Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant has said Maharashtra has stopped its work on the proposed Virdi dam project, aimed to divert water from the Valvanti river in the Mhadei basin, after his government wrote to the neighbouring state to halt it.
Maharashtra government will have to get a green signal from PRAWAH (Mhadei Water Authority) for the construction of the dam, Sawant said.
Notably, Goa and Karnataka are already locked in a dispute over the diversion of the Mhadei river water. Maharashtra government had moved its machinery to begin work on the Virdi dam. It plans to construct the dam across the Valvanti river via its Kattika tributary in Virdi, located along the Goa-Maharashtra border.
Sawant said the Goa government was not taken into confidence by Maharashtra authorities while starting work on the Virdi dam. When the Goa government realised that Maharashtra has started work on the Virdi dam, engineers from the Goa Water Resources Department personally visited the place to inspect it, he said.
We also communicated to Maharashtra that they cannot go ahead with the project. On our request, Maharashtra has stopped the work, the CM said.