“We never know the worth of water till the well is dry,” the 17th century English historian Thomas Fuller had famously written in his book – the Worthies of England.
It’s the truth Goans need to fathom on this World Water Day to ensure that the Mhadei river, known as Mandovi in Goa, never stops gurgling and frolicking through the Western Ghats, joining its tributaries, and making its way into the state and drenching 43 per cent of their land.
Activist of Mhadei Bachao Abhiyan, Rajendra Kerkar, is not sure whether the residents of Goa have fully comprehended Fuller’s wisdom.
They remain blasé about the consequences of Karnataka’s bid to divert water from the Mhadei river to the Malaprabha, which flows eastward to the Krishna river and its tributaries that meander across four states (Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana).
This attempt to change Mhadei’s path could stop it from flowing into Goa and cause acute water shortage in the state.
The environmentalist believes that if the indifference of Goans continues, it may result in many parts of the state experiencing a water crisis similar to Bangalore’s.
“Goa is marching ahead in the same direction (as Bangalore). Our state government, for the last three decades, has not bothered to work out a strategy to curtail diversion (of Mhadei river) by Karnataka and conserve the water resources available in the state," Kerkar laments.
"We (Goa) are destroying our ecosystem by allowing large scale construction in the forested area (parts of Western Ghats in Goa). In such a situation, from where will Goa get water?” Kerkar questions.
Since the 1980s, he has been fighting a battle against the destruction of the Western Ghats and Karnataka’s attempts to change the course of Mhadei river from its upstream tributaries – Kalasa, Hartal, Bandura and others – that originate in the neighbouring state.
The several-decades-long water dispute between the two states has defied resolution despite many petitions filed in the Supreme Court, water-sharing order by the Mhadei Water Dispute Tribunal (MWDT) and agitations by Goans.
Another member of the Mhadei Bachao Abhiyan, Nirmala Sawant, said their movement to save the Mhadei river has been on since 1996.
It was only after being stonewalled by all authorities that the NGO approached the Supreme Court in 2007 against Karnataka’s Kalasa-Bandura project, which was proposed in 2002 to divert 7.56 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of water from Mhadei basin to Malaprabha basin by building dams, conduits, barrages and canals.
Following an inspection of the site by the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) secretary and other senior officials, the then senior counsel of Karnataka, late Fali Nariman submitted to the court in February 2009 that no construction was done and no construction will be carried out in future.
However, to the distress of Goa, Karnataka had already completed a substantial part of the construction of canals and conduits between 2006 and 2010, which had turned the direction of Mhadei river water towards the Malaprabha basin.
Nonetheless, since then, Sawant and her peers have been holding Karnataka accountable for Nariman’s legal commitment and are constantly watchful of its violation.
There have been several attempts by the Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Ltd (KNNL), state-owned body for implementing major and medium irrigation projects, and other authorities to breach the legal assurance given by Nariman but have been foiled by Goa’s environmentalists
There have been several attempts by the Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Ltd (KNNL), state-owned body for implementing major and medium irrigation projects, and other authorities to breach the legal assurance given by Nariman but have been foiled by Goa’s environmentalists.
“They (Karnataka) have managed to divert some water of Kalasa and Hartal rivers but there is still Bandura. If it (diversion of Bandura water) is done then there will be no water (from Mhadei) and there will be a crisis in the state (Goa),” warns Sawant.
Kerkar and Sawant have intertwined the issues of Mhadei water dispute and notification of Tiger Reserve in the state’s Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary to effectively counter the decades-old problem.
“We could not go to the court on the basis of water distribution as it is a state subject and so little scope of interference by outsiders. Therefore, we went to the court on the basis of environment – protection of the wildlife sanctuary,” they say.
Interestingly, the issue heats up during elections, as it did close to Karnataka’s Assembly elections late last year. On December 30, 2022, the then chief minister of the state Basavaraj Bommai informed that his government has been granted Centre’s clearance for the Kalasa-Bandura canal to divert water from upstream Mhadei to Malaprabha.
Goa government approached the apex court and secured a stay on the construction.
Now that the Lok Sabha elections are approaching, the issue is bubbling up again. On Kerkar’s latest visit to Kankumbi in Kalasa basin early this week, he noticed deep channels being dug to divert monsoon water from the region to Malaprabha basin.
“They have destroyed 5 km of the natural course of Kalasa river from the origin. Matter is pending before the SC but Karnataka is continuously upsetting the river flow. They created such a huge structure of underground tunnel and open-cut canals at Kankumbi. They want to take 1.72 TMC of water from this area but the structure is made to carry more than 4 TMC of water,” he said.
Karnataka has created such a huge structure of underground tunnel and open-cut canals at Kankumbi. They want to take 1.72 TMC of water from this area but the structure is made to carry more than 4 TMC of waterRajendra Kerkar
There is little that Kerkar or anyone else can do about this violation as technically no “construction”, as per Nariman’s undertaking in the court, has been carried out at the site.
Kerkar explains, “The structures at the site are being constructed without cement and concrete and so it is not construction”. He revealed that the work is being carried out without any permission from any authority.
Social activist Rajan Ghate is emphatic the water dispute between the two states is “politically motivated”. He feels Goa is being taken as an underling in the whole equation as it gives just two seats to the Central government in the general election while Karnataka gives 28.
He urged people to save Mhadei river from being diverted away from Goa towards Karnataka. According to him, five talukas – Ponda, Bardez, Pilerne, Sattari and Bicholim – could be left parched if the issue is not taken up seriously.
He expressed frustration over people’s apathy regarding the issue. “It is the lifeline and a serious matter of Goa. People should be serious about it. People are being lured by assurances of government jobs and cash dole-outs to divert them from Mhadei river issue”.
Sawant echoed the same sentiment saying people were “helplessly” giving up the fight for the Mhadei water to protect their livelihood even as she slammed the state government’s attitude in dealing with the matter in the court.
“They (state government) went five times to Delhi between December 15 and February 7 (last year) for the Supreme Court hearing. There was no hearing. What does it mean? It means it was mismanaged and they are not serious,” she quipped.
The next hearing is slated later this year.
As the state government shows little concern, Sawant says Karnataka is slowly steering the course of Mhadei water, which meets the needs of 60-70 per cent of Goa’s population, towards Malaprabha. And if authorities and people don’t wake up, Mhadei’s water will slip through Goa’s fingers.