Prawah has not noted any Karnataka illegality: MLAs
Legislators said in the assembly on Thursday that the Mhadei Progressive River Authority for Welfare and Harmony (Prawah) has belied govt's claim of helping Goa's case against Karnataka.
The authority, the legislators said, has not recorded a single illegality by Karnataka and has not facilitated inspections of the illegal works.
The leader of the opposition, Yuri Alemao, said that Karnataka has prepared all the necessary hidden infrastructure to divert the water, while Goa is only busy filing contempt petitions in courts.
'What are our measures to harness the water to our side other than the legal relief? No mechanism has worked, meetings of the House committee on the Mhadei have not been convened, govt communication is not being entertained by Prawah,' said Alemao.
He said, 'The authority is just an eyewash. What is moving ahead is the agenda of Karnataka govt.'
Karnataka has done all the work on the ground, even marked the trees to be cut and the water to be siphoned off, said Alemao. He said as soon as Karnataka receives the environment ministry's permission, it will be ready to effect the diversion.
Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai said that the WRD has replaced an experienced engineer, Dilip Naik, who had over 30 years of experience and deep knowledge on the Mhadei issue, with two inexperienced engineers to head the river water dispute cell.
'Karnataka may know of this technical and administrative vacuum in Goa and take advantage of it. This cell should be headed by the right person,' said Sardesai.
He said that in the meantime, Goa's groundwater is being sucked dry through illegal borewells. 'Since 2022, 163 illegal borewells have been detected. Only 40 have been sealed across the state so far,' he said.
Sardesai said that from Fatorda to Betul, the Sal river is choked with water hyacinth.
'Crores have been spent on lawyers' fees in the Mhadei matter. You need to move a motion on that application for final hearing,' said Aldona MLA Carlos Ferreira. 'The main matter will be lost when you keep filing for contempt etc. in the court.'
St Andre MLA Viresh Borkar said that multiple projects are coming up on the Kadamba plateau, which is a reservoir of groundwater. Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas said that Goa needs a state water security plan and a village security plan to better manage its water needs.
The flooding experienced in Bicholim needs to be urgently addressed, said Bicholim MLA Chandrakant Shetye. 'From Nanoda at Bhatwadi, the water level is seen rising every year during the monsoon. The PWD will have to work with the WRD,' said Shetye. 'The level of the road has to be raised. Water enters houses, and last year the situation was very bad. From Kuchirem to Bicholim, the river needs to be desilted.'
He also said that the WRD needs to protect its command area of dams. 'A definite plan is needed for the command area. In Krishnanagar in Bicholim, someone made plots in the command area and sold the plots, and people built their houses and later learned that it was in the command area,' said Shetye.
He said, 'These houses need to be regularised based on a cut-off date and we need to keep a watch on anyone else doing this.'
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