(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Dismissing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's letter to Karnataka BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa as a 'political stunt, Goa Water Resources Minister Vinod Palienkar yesterday said his state would not share 'a drop of water of the Mhadei river with the neighbouring state.
'As water resources minister I have made my stand clear. Whatever he (Parrikar) has written (in the letter), he has not sent me. You ask him. If he has sent it to Karnataka, I can only comment that it must be a political stunt. I do not want to say anything more on that, Palienkar said.
Last week, after a meeting with BJP president Amit Shah, Parrikar in a letter to Yeddyurappa, agreed 'on humanitarian grounds to consider Karnataka's demand for drinking water to its northern parts, even as the matter was being heard by a tribunal.
'Our people are desperate for water. If our people themselves do not get proper water supply how can we give them water. I believe Mhadei is our lifeline. We will not have any compromise and not give a drop of water to Karnataka, Palienkar insisted.
The move has now triggered a divide in the state Cabinet and has also resulted in protests across Karnataka, with both the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP staging protests. Farmer groups also staged protests accusing parties of politicising the sensitive issue.
Parrikar now faces opposition within his own Cabinet with Palienkar, who belongs to regional Goa Forward party, vehemently opposing the chief minister's proposal to Yeddyurappa. Another ruling ally, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, has also demanded a status quo on the dispute with Karnataka.
Yeddyurappa, a power Lingayat leader from north Karnataka, is expected to lead the party's campaign in the region, when the state goes to poll next year. BJP sources said the party was looking to leverage the Mhadei issue in north Karnataka constituencies, especially in districts like Belgaum, Bagalkot, etc.
Goa and Karnataka are currently locked in a dispute over the latter's controversial Kalsa-Bhandura dam project across the Mhadei river. Mhadei, also known as the Mandovi river, originates in northern Karnataka, passes through Maharashtra briefly and meets the Arabian Sea in Panaji, Goa.
While the river traverses 28.8km in Karnataka, it runs through a length of 81.2km in Goa. Karnataka plans to construct seven dams on the river, aimed at diverting 7.56 TMC water to its water-starved Malaprabha basin in north Karnataka.
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