Mhadei dispute: For BJP, Goa and K’taka are at par, says CT Ravi

The Supreme Court’s directives on the Mhadei inter-state river water dispute between Goa and Karnataka will be binding on both states, BJP national general secretary and Goa desk in-charge CT Ravi said on Sunday.

When asked for the ruling party’s position vis a vis water dispute, Chikkamagaluru MLA Ravi said: “It is a court order. Karnataka and Goa will follow it. We are a nationalist party, which means for us both Karnataka and Goa are important”.

Ravi was speaking to reporters during his first visit to the state after being as the state desk in-charge.

According to Goa BJP president SadanandShetTanavade, Ravi was in Goa to discuss organisational matters and prepare for BJP national president JP Nadda’s visit to the state as part of his 120-day national tour.

“Our national president is likely to arrive in Goa on December 20 or 21. Ravi was in Goa to discuss details about the visit,” Tanavade said.

Last month, the Goa government filed a contempt petition before the Supreme Court alleging Karnataka of illegally diverting water from the Mhadei river basin via the newly constructed Kalasa-Banduri canal.

The Goa government has already filed a special leave petition in the apex court last year, challenging the Mhadei Water Dispute Tribunal award in 2018, which allowed Karnataka to divert 13.42 TMC water from the river basin. The SLP had also said that Karnataka was diverting more water than what allotted by the Award.

Mhadei also known as the Mandovi river in Goa and Mahadayi in Karnataka, is considered as a lifeline in the northern parts of Goa. It originates in Karnataka and meets the Arabian Sea in Panaji in Goa, while briefly flowing through Maharashtra.

While the river runs 28.8 km in Karnataka, it is over 50 km in length in the state Goa. Goa, Karnataka are battling out a two decade-long dispute over the sharing of the Mhadei waters.