Walter de sa, Principal of St. Xavier's College, Mapusa, Goa

Lobo on Friday night also said that, the issue of the Mhadei river water diversion was discussed at a close-door meeting between BJP MLAs, top officials along with Nadda at a city hotel."He (Nadda) said, he is seized of the matter and the Chief Minister has spoken to him in Delhi on two occasions and he would put those letters to rest. That such type of letters are not issued (again)," Lobo said.The state's Ports minister also said, that during the meeting with Nadda, which lasted for around 45 mins, Goa's Water Resources Minister Filipe Neri Rodrigues spelled out Goa's case in the ongoing flare-up with Karnataka over Mhadei river water."The Minister said that this issue of giving letters should stop, because the matter is before the Supreme Court and we have a strong case for the Mhadei. The decision should be as per SC and by giving such letters, we are only going to complivate the situation," Lobo said, spelling out Rodrigues' pitch to Nadda, who was in Goa to address a pro Citizenship Amendment Act rally in Panaji on Friday.The two decade-long dispute over the waters of the Mhadei river, got a fresh twist last month, when the Prakash Javadekar-led MoEF wrote to Karnataka Home Minister Basvaraj Bommai, saying the Karnataka government could proceed with the controversial Kalasa-Banduri water diversion project after the 2018 award on the Mhadei interstate water dispute is formally notified by the Central Government.The December 24 letter comes on the heels of a prior letter, which was issued by the MoEF to Karnataka giving a green nod to the same project.The Goa government has opposed the project claiming diversion of water from the Mhadei basin would cause "ecological devastation" in the coastal state, where nearly half the population of 1.5 million depends on Mhadei river water.Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has also said, that if needed the MoEF's controversial letter would be challenged in Court, because the Kalasa-Banduri project was a sub judice matter, after the Goa government has objected to it in the Supreme Court.Goa Governor Satya Pal Malik last month, had also chided the MoEF, saying the letter written by the central ministry to the Karnataka government was open to misinterpretation.The Mhadei river originates in Karnataka and meets the Arabian Sea near Panaji in Goa, while briefly flowing through Maharashtra. An interstate water disputes tribunal, set up by the central government, after hearing the over two-decade-old Mhadei river water sharing dispute among Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra, in August 2018 allotted 13.42 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) (including 3.9 TMC for diversion into the depleted Malaprabha river basin) to Karnataka and 1.33 TMC to Maharashtra.( With inputs from IANS )

Walter De SaFOLLOW

Walter de sa, Latest News

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday said that the coastal state was the only state in the country to open special cattle shelters for the care of stray cows. ...

For the second time in a year, the Goa cabinet witnessed a no-holds barred abuse fest, with ministers having a go at their cabinet colleagues over difference of opinion. ...

Following the death of four tigers in North Goa's Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary earlier this week, Goa's Ports Minister Michael Lobo has urged the state government to revisit the proposal for upgrading the sanctuary into a Tiger reserve, so that the stri ...

Accusing the BJP-led coalition government in Goa of using "brute force" of numbers to push their agenda through, former Deputy Chief Minister Vijai Sardesai on Tuesday said that what happened in JNU could happen in the Goa Assembly soon. ...

Royal Navy of Oman ships RNOV Al Rasikh and RNOV Khassab arrived at Mormugao Port in Goa on Saturday to participate in the 12th edition of the Indo-Oman Bilateral Naval exercise 'Naseem-Al- Bahr'. ...

A united opposition will seek to move an adjournment motion to discuss the ongoing Mhadei interstate water sharing dispute, when the state assembly convenes for a day-long session on Tuesday, leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat said on Monday, after ...

Students, opposition party leaders and members of civil society on Monday, held a protest in Panaji against the assault on Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University students and members of the faculty late on Sunday, which left several students injured. ...

BJP National Working President JP Nadda has assured the Goa party unit, that the 'letter-writing' between the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Karnataka government over the contentious Mhadei interstate water dispute issue will stop, ...