PANAJI: While the State government has decided to approach the Union government not to grant any permission to Karnataka to divert Mhadei water, Goa Forward Party (GFP) on Thursday said that Union government will grant all necessary permissions to Karnataka after the Zilla Panchayat (ZP) elections.
The GFP also said that ZP elections are a time pass exercise by the State government, brought at this time intentionally to hide Mhadei's sellout.
Addressing media persons at GFP headquarters in Panaji, GFP president, and MLA Vijai Sardesai said, "The interlocutory petition has been disposed of. There is nothing in the case. One consolation may be that till the time ZP elections are over, they may not grant any permission. But it is just a matter of time. Next day of ZP, they will get the permissions."
Stating that Karnataka, in its State budget presented, has made a preliminary provision of Rs 500 crore for the Mhadei drinking water project and Kalasa Bhandura canal, he said, "This clearly shows that Karnataka is taking a step towards the implementation of the Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal."
Vijai said that Goa's Interlocutory Application in Mhadei matter was not even entertained and disposed of, he said, "On the contrary, the IA filed by Karnataka was not only entertained, but the order was also passed in favor of them. It was not even objected by Goa's counsel. This proves that our government is part of a very big controversy to sell Mhadei."
"We cannot see anything photo of Goa delegation meeting Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. Whereas Karnataka, two days after the Supreme Court order, led a delegation headed by its WRD Minister met Shekhawat and the gazette notification was issued on February 27. They are proactive but our government has not even met anybody at the Centre. We are doing nothing in Delhi. I feel the BJP being in power in Goa has no benefit to the people at all," Vijai said.
The GFP president alleged that the immediate focus of the government is ZP elections. "If the focus was on Mhadei, the government should have been in Delhi and not campaigning in Goa. My challenge to the State Government is that they should tell how they will stop Mhadei and what would be their plan of action," Vijai demanded.