Hubballi: The refusal of Goa Chief Minister Pramod Savant to hold talks with Karnataka on the Mahadayi water dispute has angered farmer leaders and activists of various organisations in the Mumbai-Karnataka region, who are now demanding early implementation of the Kalasa Banduri project.
Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, who was scheduled to meet Mr Savant on Monday to discuss the issue, has cancelled his visit to Goa after his refusal to hold talks with him, allegedly under pressure from the opposition Congress party, which has vehemently opposed any such move while the dispute is pending in the Supreme Court.
In August last year, the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal gave a verdict allocating 13.5 tmcft of the river's water to Karnataka, 24 tmcft to Goa and 1.33 tmcft to Maharashtra. But unhappy with the order, Karnataka and Goa moved the Supreme Court against it.
Farmer leaders and Kannada activists from Karnataka had hoped for an early resolution of the dispute after the BJP government came to power in the state as the saffron party is at the helm both at the Centre and in Goa, but their hopes have now been dashed.
Mr Yediyurappa had announced recently that he planned to meet the Goa Chief Minister on September 16 or 17 for a discussion, leading to a possible out -of- court settlement on the Mahadayi dispute. His move came after Union parliamentary, coal and mines minister Pralhad Joshi reportedly received an encouraging response when he appealed to the Goa Chief Minister to settle the dispute through talks during his visit to that state on Monday.
