Mahadayi river water diversion won't affect Goa: Official

Diversion of the Mahadayi river water by Maharashtra and Karnataka won't have any impact on Goa in view of the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal (MWDT) verdict, a state government official said here today.

The tribunal recently allowed the two neighbouring states to divert the river water.

Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka are locked in a dispute over sharing of the river water.

"The quantum of water to be diverted by both the states is negligible. It will not have any environmental impact on Goa as the coastal state is located downstream," said Chetan Pandit who is the Technical Consultant for the Goa government in the MWDT case.

He told reporters that the Mahadayi river has 188 TMC of water in its basin, of which 6.37 TMC water has been allowed to be diverted by the MWDT on August 14.

Pandit said the MWDT had studied the "flow series" of the river for the last 40 years while delivering the verdict.

He said Karnataka and Maharashtra cannot take up any project upstream of the river water allocated to them without conducting the Environmental Impact Assessment or Environment Management Plan.

"After conceiving any project, the two states have to hold public hearings where aggrieved people can raise their objection. If a state government or its State Pollution Control Board does not provide opportunity to the people, they can always petition Union Environment Ministry against the project," he said.

Of the entire Mahadayi river basin area of 2032 sq km, 375 sq km lies in Karnataka, 77 sq km in Maharashtra and the rest in Goa.

The dispute arose since Goa opposed Karnataka's plans to divert waters from the tributaries of the river. Karnataka had justified the diversion, saying it was for drinking water purposes.