Mahadayi: Supreme Court refuses to stay Karnataka’s project

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to restrain Karnataka from the implementation of the Mahadayi diversion project based on the Central Water Commission’s latest approval.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and M M Sundresh disposed of a plea by Goa to issue orders to Karnataka from going ahead with the project.

The court, however, asked Karnataka to take all statutory clearance before going ahead with the project.

The Goa government challenged the Central Water Commission’s (CWC) latest nod given to the Karnataka government’s revised detailed project report (DPR) for the Mahadayi diversion scheme.

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Goa said that if Karnataka goes ahead with the project, it would lead to the large-scale destruction of forests in the ecologically-rich Western Ghats.

The Karnataka government last year submitted a revised proposal about the Mahadayi project which involved the diversion of Mahadayi river water through Kalasa and Banduri Nala. The project received approval from the Central Water Commission recently.

However, the Goa government’s pleas to challenge the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal’s final award are still pending, the Supreme Court is expected to hear the petition soon.

The Mahadayi project proposes to supply drinking water to parched areas of Belagavi, Hubballi-Dharwad districts and surrounding areas.

However, Goa has been opposing the project saying that the diversion of river water would dry up the Mahadayi (also called Mandovi) river, the lifeline of the state.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant welcomed the Supreme Court’s order.

According to the apex court, Karnataka still cannot carry out diversion of the river water until all requisite permissions required to build the infrastructure for the project are obtained, he said.