Mahadayi river: Goa's letter kindles hope of amicable settlement

Bengaluru: Hopes have again risen of an out of court settlement on the Mahadayi water dispute following a letter from the Goa Chief Secretary to his Karnataka counterpart holding out the possibility of  talks  after the byelections to two Assembly constituencies in Goa in response to the state’s overtures.

Speaking to reporters here after an all party meeting on the Mahadayi and Cauvery disputes on Monday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah recalled that the state government had made two attempts to hold a meeting with the Goa government on the issue on the tribunal’s suggestion in the past, but had met with no success. But on August 2, the Goa Chief Secretary had written to the state saying no talks could be held till the byelections were held in that state. 

“Bharatiya Janata Party leaders from Karnataka too have volunteered to talk to Goa Chief Minister, Manohar Parikkar, after August 28 to persuade him to hold talks on the Mahadayi dispute,” he said, adding that senior  BJP leader K.S. Eshwarappa had asked him to speak to the Goa Congress leaders as well on the dispute. 

“Usually, when a Chief Minister-level meeting takes place all-party members are taken into confidence. But as the Bharatiya Janata Party is insisting, I will talk to Congress leaders in Goa. I have, however, told them that it cannot be a pre-condition to them meeting Mr Parikkar,”' Mr Siddaramaiah explained.

While riterating that the Cauvery water in the four reservoirs of the basin would be used only for drinking, Mr Siddaramaiah said some water would be released for the standing sugarcane crop as well. Currently, the reservoirs had a storage of only 40 tmc ft of water, of which  30 tmc ft was live. This was enough only to meet the drinking water requirements of the area they served  until June, he revealed.