Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Goa Assembly Chandrakant Kavlekar has slammed Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar for offering an amicable settlement of the Mahadayi river water dispute by meeting the drinking water needs of drought probe areas in 4-5 districts of Karnataka.
Talking to Deccan Chronicle, he termed this a ‘political stunt’ by Mr Parrikar to help the BJP come to power in the Assembly polls. For one, the issue was pending before the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal with both Karnataka and Goa party to the case. Secondly, the CM did not take opposition parties into confidence before arriving at such a decision.
Thirdly, Mr Parrikar should have written a letter to his Karnataka counterpart, Mr Siddaramaiah and not to Karnataka BJP President B.S. Yeddyurappa, he said.
Mr Kavlekar said this being an important issue, Mr Parrikar should have discussed it in the State Assembly before making a commitment on providing water to Karnataka. “We are not opposed to giving water to Karnataka but what we want is a proper procedure to protect the interests of people of Goa. The question is-can Mr Yeddyurappa take a decision on behalf of the Congress government headed by Mr Siddaramaiah?”
The opposition leader said the CM should have convened a meeting of all parties to seek their guidance over the demand of Karnataka to release 7.56 tmc ft of water from Mahadayi River.
