Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday welcomed the decision of the central government to notify Mahadayi PRAWAH (Progressive River Authority for Welfare and Harmony) and setting up the authority, tasked with overseeing the compliance of the final award of the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal, in Goa.
Sawant, who is currently in the national capital for a meeting of the NITI Aayog, on Saturday tweeted calling the National Democratic Alliance government's decision, a "major milestone" to safeguard the Mahadayi river.
"A great news for people of Goa! I extend my gratitude to the Union Government for meeting one of our crucial demands and giving the approval for the constitution and notifying Mahadayi PRAWAH, as well as for authorizing the establishment of its headquarters in Panaji, Goa," Sawant tweeted.
"This significant decision marks a major milestone in our collective efforts to safeguard Mother Mhadei," the Chief Minister also said. The Mahadayi river is also referred to as the Mhadei or the Mandovi river in Goa.
Months before the Karnataka state assembly, the Goa government was in a bind, after Union Home Minister Amit Shah had claimed that the party's governments in Goa, Karnataka and the Centre had successfully resolved the inter-state water sharing conundrum, soon after the Central Water Commission gave a formal nod to the Karnataka government's Kalsa-Banduri water diversion project across the Mahadayi river basin in the Southern state.
Sawant as well as at least two cabinet ministers had questioned Shah's claim, even as the state government had also appealed against the CWC's decision in the Supreme Court, while also taking the case to BJP national president JP Nadda.
However, soon after the BJP's loss in the Karnataka polls, the Goa BJP's state executive committee also passed a resolution urging its government in Goa to "take all steps necessary" to oppose the Karnataka government's plans to construct the Kalsa-Banduri project, while describing the CWC's nod as a "threat to the very existence of this river".