MoEF suspends letter that gave nod to Kalasa-Banduri project

After a series of protests in Goa and Delhi on December 15, the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests headed by Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday, December 18, suspended its letter written in October 2019 that gave a green approval to Karnataka's Rs 841 crore Kalasa-Banduri water diversion project.

In a letter written by the Union Ministry's Mohit Saxena who is a Scientist in the Impact Assessment Division (MoEF), to the Chief Engineer of Karnataka Netravati Nigam Limited, the former informed that the decision was taken keeping in mind the pending petitions related to the project by the Goa and Karnataka governments before the Ministry, as well as a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the Goa government against Karnataka before the top court, in which Goa had issued notice to the southern state.

"Based on facts made available subsequently to this Ministry it is observed that applications for clarification of the Award of the Mhadei Water Dispute Tribunal dated August 14, filed by the Governments of Goa and Karnataka are still pending," the MoEF stated.

"The Award has also been challenged by the states of Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra before the Supreme Court. In the SLP filed by the state of Goa, the Supreme Court has issued notice to the state of Karnataka," it said.

Talking about the latest development, Congress has chosen to caution, while also stating that withdrawal of the letter and not merely keeping it in abeyance will benefit Goa.

READ | Goa CM: Clearance for Kalasa Banduri can't be given without hearing us

'The information needs to be examined cautiously': Digambar Kamat 

"The information given to Goa Chief Minister by the Union Minister for Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar stating that the letter issued to Karnataka is kept in abeyance needs to be examined cautiously. This can be another act by the Ministry of Environment and Forest to mislead the people of Goa", leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat told media in Panaji.

"The MoEF should also come clean on what happened with the committee which it was supposed to form to investigate about the said letter illegally issued to Karnataka," Kamat said.

The states of Goa and Karnataka are engaged in a two-decade-long inter-state dispute over the sharing of Mhadei river waters. The already bitter conflict between the two states was further heated when two months before the crucial Karnataka assembly bypolls, the MoEF gave a green nod to Karnataka's Kalasa-Banduri dam project.

The Goa Government is in disagreement with the project which plans to divert water from the Mhadei river basin to the deficit basin of the Malaprabha river, mainly to serve for drinking water purposes.

The Mhadei river originates in Karnataka and faces the Arabian Sea near Panaji in Goa. The river also briefly flows through Maharashtra. 

READ | Goa Congress protests in Delhi, demands rollback on Kalasa-Banduri dam project

READ | Goa CM-led delegation to meet Javadekar to counter Mhadei River issue

(With agency inputs)