Mahadayi River Dispute
The Mahadayi water-sharing dispute has
the states of Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka vying for water from the Mahadayi
river
About River Mahadayi
·
Mahadayi, the west-flowing inter-state river in the
Western Ghats, takes birth in Degaon village, Khanapur taluk, Belagavi
district.
·
The river travels 35 km in Karnataka; 82 km in Goa
before joining the Arabian Sea.
·
The River Mahadayi is called Mandovi in Goa.
·
Total catchment area 2,032 sq km. Catchment area in
Karnataka 375 sq km
Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal (MWDT) Interim Order
·
The tribunal, headed by J.N. Panchal, after hearing
Karnataka and Goa and gives interim order on 28 July 2016
·
Rejected Karnataka’s plea for diversion of 7 tmcft of
water from the river to the Malaprabha basin.
·
Considerations in the Tribunal’s order
ä The
ecological damage that the project may cause since the Mahadayi water is a key
component in maintaining the ecological balance in a wildlife reserve on the
Goa side
ä Karnataka
hadn’t shown what would be the downstream effects at 3 km and 5 km of lifting
the river and so “relief couldn’t be granted.”
ä Given the
enormous amount of water being transferred, the tribunal reasoned, there would
be huge submersible pumps and specialised equipment that would be required.
ä The tribunal
said it “didn’t have confidence” that Karnataka would rely on temporary
structures and equipment — as it has claimed — to effect this transfer of water
into the Malaprabha basin
ä Karnataka
government had also not obtained environmental and wildlife clearances to
execute the project.
ä Karnataka’s
contention that 108.72 tmcft of water is available at 75 per cent dependability
in the Mahadayi basin wasn’t cogent.
ä Karnataka
has relied on the data from the Central Water Commission that is seriously
contested by Goa.
·
The tribunal’s interim order signals a halt to
Karnataka’s Kalasa-Banduri Nala project which is intended to utilise water from
the Mahadayi river for drinking purposes in Hubballi-Dharwad and the districts
of Belagavi and Gadag.
·
It involves building across Kalasa and Banduri, two
tributaries of the Mahadayi river to divert 7.56 TMC of water to the Malaprabha
river, which supplies the drinking water needs of the said 3 districts, i.e.,
Dharwad, Belagavi and Gadag.
·
It is canal project undertaken by Karnataka to divert
water from the Mahadayi river to the Malaprabha
·
crucial to meet the drinking water needs of the twin
towns, Hubli and Dharwad, that aim to be the first in India to supply water
round-the-clock to all its citizens.
Dispute
·
Kalasa-Banduri project planned in 1989; Goa raised
objection to it.
·
Goa filed a complaint seeking setting up of a tribunal
in July 2002.
·
The Ministry of Water Resources kept the clearance
given to Karnataka in abeyance in September 2002.
·
Goa moved the Supreme Court in 2006 seeking
constitution of a tribunal, withdrawing approval for any work in the basin.
·
Mahadayi (Mandovi) is a water deficit basin and water
diversion could impact the environment.
The
Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal was set up on 22.11.2010.
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