Mahadayi River Dispute: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah Accused Of Politicising Issue

The all-party meet in Karnataka on Saturday (27 January) over the Mahadayi issue failed to yield any significant result as Karnataka Chief Minister (CM) Siddaramaiah tried to involve the Prime Minister (PM) into the issue despite opposition from the state BJP, reported News18.

The Mahadayi or Mandovi river, which has two-thirds of it’s length in Goa, is one of the two major rivers flowing through Goa and also one of the few fresh water sources for the state, other rivers being salty.

The water sharing issue has come to the fore recently with CM Siddaramaiah claiming that Karnataka needs 7.56 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft) of Mahadayi to meet the water requirements in the water scarce districts of Bagalkot, Gadag, Dharwad and Belagavi. Several dams and barrages were planned in the 80s to route the Mahadayi water to Malaprabha basin in Karnataka, whose construction has now been stayed by the Supreme Court.

The all-party meeting by Siddaramaiah however, which followed a bandh on Thursday (24 January), saw the Congress CM seeking PM Modi’s intervention despite Goa CM Manohar Parrikar’s statement that Goa, in principle, would not oppose the "reasonable" and "justified" quantum of water meant to be utilised for drinking, in his letter to Karnataka BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa.

Siddaramaiah wants the PM to convene a meeting of Chief Ministers of riparian states of Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra for resolving the issue, despite bitter opposition from the Goa Congress MPs over the water sharing.

"If the Goa Chief Minister responds to my recent letter and calls for a meeting on the issue, I will also make honest efforts to convince Congress leaders there" Siddaramaiah said while speaking to reporters after the meeting.

Belagavi MP and BJP leader Suresh Angadi had earlier accused the Congress of politicising the issue. “Goa Congress leaders are acting on instructions from Sonia Gandhi and AICC president Rahul Gandhi,” he had claimed while also alleging that Sonia Gandhi had asked Goan Congress leaders not to allow a single drop of Mahadayi water flow to Karnataka.

Also Read: Bandhs Will Not Help Solve Mandovi River Dispute, Large-Scale Engineering Will