Goa has urged the Centre to order an immediate monsoon inspection of Karnataka’s Kalasa and Bhandura project sites, citing an alleged breach of the Mhadei river system, a 32% shortfall in rainfall and concerns over damage to the river’s natural flow.
In a letter to the Ministry of Jal Shakti, the Goa government asked the Centre to direct the chairperson of Mahadayi Prawah to inspect the sites and assess the extent of any breach. Goa also requested that the authority recommend remedial measures and submit its findings to the Centre.
The state has separately sought action on the technical appraisal granted by the Central Water Commission for Karnataka’s Kalasa and Bhandura diversion schemes. Goa asked that the appraisal either be revoked or kept in abeyance.
The letter also asked Mahadayi Prawah to identify and prepare an inventory of civil infrastructure constructed by Karnataka for earlier Kalasa and Bhandura diversion schemes that has become redundant or been abandoned following the CWC’s technical appraisal for a revised lift diversion scheme. Goa said steps should then be taken, or recommended, to remove the abandoned infrastructure and restore affected land and river beds to their natural state.
Goa described the Mhadei as its primary source of freshwater and a lifeline for settlements and residents. The state said its request was intended to highlight what it called the failure of Mahadayi Prawah, an authority constituted by the Centre to secure compliance with and implementation of the award passed by the Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal.
Goa also said it had information that Karnataka was in breach of an interim order. According to the letter, inspections carried out by Goa on its own initiative during previous monsoons had indicated that water from the Mhadei basin was being diverted into the Malaprabha basin. Goa attributed the alleged diversion to works at the Kalasa and Bhandura sites, saying they had obstructed the natural flow of water into the Mhadei basin.
The state’s water resources department has, according to the letter, consistently pressed for an independent inspection since the constitution of Mahadayi Prawah. Goa said such an inspection was necessary to establish the extent of any breach and verify whether works had been undertaken without statutory clearances.
Goa further alleged that construction carried out without permissions had caused permanent damage to the river’s morphology. The requested inspection, along with a report to the Centre, is now the immediate step sought by the state in the continuing inter-state dispute.