Supreme Court to hear Goa’s SLP in Mhadei case on November 29, 30
Panjim: All eyes are on the Supreme Court (SC) hearing on November 29 and 30 of the special leave petition (SLP) filed by the Goa government challenging the Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal (MWDT) award passed in August 2018.
The court will also hear petitions filed by Karnataka and Maharashtra governments challenging the tribunal’s decision.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday said the state has filed five separate petitions related to Mhadei in the Supreme Court. The government has challenged the Mhadei Tribunal award, the case against the Karnataka Wildlife Warden and also filed a contempt petition against Karnataka for carrying out construction work without obtaining environmental clearance (EC).
According to Sawant, all the cases related to Mhadei river will be clubbed as one case by the apex court.
The Chief Minister said that Advocate General (AG) Devidas Pangam and the entire panel of advocates have been seriously reviewing the Mhadei river case for the past several days and expressed confidence that the way the cases have been filed, Goa will win them. This is his gratitude. “We are very serious and very strong,” Sawant said.
Meanwhile, AG Devidas Pangam will leave for New Delhi on Tuesday along with the legal team and two consultants Chetan Pandit and MK Srinivas and Water Resources Chief Engineer Pramod Badami. Senior advocate Darius Khambata and advocate Venkatesh Dhond, representing the state, are also expected to reach Delhi on Tuesday.
AG Pangam said, “We are fully prepared and ready to argue the case if it comes to a head.”
On July 10 this year, the Supreme Court accepted the SLP filed by the Goa government challenging the Mhadei tribunal’s decision to give 13.42 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) of water to Karnataka for the Kalasa-Bhandura drinking water-cum-irrigation project Was.
During the last hearing, the court had asked to place on record the order of the State Chief Wildlife Warden, prohibiting Karnataka from carrying out any construction work of its proposed project without obtaining permission under Section 29 of the Wildlife Protection Act. was given.
Meanwhile, the Jal Shakti Ministry of the Government of India has appointed all seven officials to the Mhadei Flow Committee or Mhadei Water Management Authority. In February this year, the Jal Shakti Ministry had approved the setting up of the Mhadei Flow for compliance and implementation of the Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal (MWDT) award. It was notified by May this year.
The Mhadei Pravah Committee meeting, scheduled to take place last week, was postponed to a later date. The office of Mhadei Flow Committee has been established at Irrigation Building (WRD), Porvorim.
