DECCAN HERALD * Saturday, July 13, 2002 =20 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Parrikar vows to stop Malaprabha project >From Devika Sequeira DH News Service PANAJI, July 12 Sandwiched between two Congress-ruled states, Goa BJP Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar appears set for a confrontation with both his neighbours, Karnataka and Maharashtra, on the contentious issue of the sharing of inter-state waters. Mr Parrikar who is to lead an all-party delegation to Union Water Resources Minister Arjun Sethi on July 26, to protest the Mahadayi diversion, made it plain that he would go all out to stop Karnataka from going ahead with the Malaprabha project because it lacked an environmental clearance. "I will use all the mechanisms at my disposal, including appealing to the Supreme Court and agitational methods to stop the project, which will cause irreversible damage to Goa's wildlife and its environment," he said. An ingress of saline waters would have a severe impact on Goa's forests, agriculture and fishing. The Goa chief minister argues that Karnataka's assessment of the Malaprabha project is based on "incorrect and outdated data", and accuses his neighbour of propagating an "artifical water scarcity" in the Hubli-Dharwad region, to force the Central government's hand on the issue. In April, Mr B N Nawalawa, secretary in the Ministry of Water Resources, granted Karnataka "in principle clearance" to divert 7.56 tmc of water from Kalsa/Haltar Nalla project and the the Bhandur Nalla project to the Malaprabha river.=20 Mr Parrikar has termed the decision "mischievous" and has sought the secretary's suspension for his "exceeding his authority". Goa has asked the Central ministry to withhold the in principle clearance till it presents its case to the Central Water Commission. The Goa government is also set to review the Tillari irrgation project it shares with Maharashtra. Goa which has so far spent Rs 280 crore on the project has not seen a drop of water flow into the canals. The project is shared on a 23:77 per cent basis between the states, with Goa having the larger share. The Goa government which was criticised by Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh for failing to pay up its share, would have to cough up another Rs 370 crore to see the project through. An annoyed Mr Parrikar said he had "no trust" in the Maharashtra government on the project's financial aspect.=20 "I have no way of knowing if our funds are being properly utilised." The project's parametres had also changed since its inception in 1991. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- =A9 Copyright, 1999 The Printers (Mysore)Ltd.=20 [E-mail to Editor] [Main Page..Text Version] [Main Page..Graphic Version] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
