Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement has been refuted by Goa Public Works Department minister Nilesh Cabral on Monday. Shah has said that the Mhadei river water dispute with Karnataka had been resolved in favor of the southern state.
The Goa minister refused to accept, in a news conference on Monday, that Pramod Sawant, the chief minister of Goa, had endorsed the remark made by the Union Home Minister. Speaking to reporters in Panaji, Cabral said, “Our CM has not given any consent to divert Mhadei river water. I know he (Sawant) will never do it. I don’t know what Union Home Minister Amit Shah is talking about.”
Cabral condemned Shah’s statement and said, “Of course, I condemn the statement. We are not against water usage within the basin but will never allow the water to be diverted outside.”
Addressing the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) ‘Jana Sankalp Yatre’ in Belagavi in Karnataka on Saturday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, “I want to tell you (people) that BJP, by resolving the long-standing dispute between both states, has given Mhadei water to Karnataka and, thereby, ensured farmers in several districts here are benefited.”
Goa and Karnataka are battling out a two-decade-long water dispute over sharing the Mhadei waters as the river runs 28.8 km in Karnataka; it is over 50 km in length in Goa.
Mhadei, also known as the Mandovi river in Goa and Mahadayi in Karnataka, is considered a lifeline in the northern parts of Goa. It originates in Karnataka and meets the Arabian Sea in Panaji in Goa, while briefly flowing through Maharashtra.