Goa govt welcomes extension to Mahadeyi Water Dispute Tribunal

Goa government has welcomed the decision of the central governmentto give extension to Mahadeyi Water Dispute Tribunal by another one year.

It claimed that the development indicates that the state will win the battle against neighbouring Karnataka.

Goa government has contested Karnataka's move to built dams upstream Mahadeyi river to divert the water.

The tribunal was constituted on November 16, 2010 under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956, for adjudication of the water disputes regarding river Mahadeyi and river valley thereof.

Goa Water Resources department minister Vinod Palyekar said the Union government had granted extension of one year for the tribunal.
 

"The fight for Mahadeyi is struggle for our survival. Since I am water resources minister of Goa government, it is my primary responsibility to win this fight," Palyekar said in a statement issued here today.

Palyekar recalled that when he had gone to New Delhi to attend hearing before the tribunal, he had written letter to the Union Minister for Water Resources and River Development Uma Bharati urging her to give extension to the tribunal.

"I am happy that union government has granted extension which indicates that Goa is approaching towards winning this battle against Karnataka.

"The Karnataka government has always been working to ensure that the tribunal does not get extension," he said.

The tribunal was required to submit its report and decision under the said Act within a period of three years that is on or before November 15, 2013.

However, the tribunal term had to be extended twice.

When the central government, last year, decided to constitute a permanent tribunal to adjudicate all inter-state disputes over river waters, by doing away with the current practice of having a separate tribunal for every such dispute that arises, the Goa government petitioned the Union ministry of water resources to extend the term of the MahadeyiWater Disputes Tribunal by another year.