Farmers’ organisations have welcomed the Supreme Court verdict on the Mahadayi dispute that dismissed Goa’s objection to Karnataka going ahead with the project. But questions remain about whether the road ahead for Karnataka is clear or not.
“We are happy that the court has allowed Karnataka to go ahead with the drinking water project. However, we are not sure of the details,” said Sidagouda Modagi, a Krishik Samaj leader. “Major and Medium Irrigation Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi had announced a hydroelectric project along with the drinking water scheme. But the court judgment clearly seems to approve only of the drinking water project. In that sense, it is no cause for celebration,” he said.
Ashok Chandaragi, convener of the action committee of Kannada organisations, said that Mr. Jarkiholi has committed an error by terming it an irrigation project. “All these years, Karnataka obtained exemptions and approvals from the Union government by saying that the project was a drinking water scheme. But the Minister has wrongly called it an irrigation project. This could be used against us by Goa and some environment groups that are opposing the project,” he said.
Environmentalist Giridhar Kulkarni said that if the construction of the project becomes inevitable, the State government should declare the forest area surrounding the project site as a protected wildlife sanctuary and ecological preserve. That will ensure that further degradation of forestland does not happen and the fragile ecosystem would be protected,” he said.
The response in Goa has been guarded. While Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has welcomed the verdict and said it was in the interests of Goa and it would protect the forest and wildlife of the Mahadayi basin, Opposition leaders have criticised it. The Chief Minister said the SC had made it clear that Karnataka could not go ahead without taking necessary permissions. Opposition leader Digambar Kamat has criticised the State government for failing to protect the interests of the State. “It played down our apprehensions about environment damage arising from the project. The Union government is conniving with Karnataka. The environment ministry has already granted permission and the Centre would soon grant it all other permissions,” Mr Kamat said.
Officials say they are not sure of the implications of the order either. “Each such project needs permissions from three departments - environment, forest and wildlife. We had got exemptions from the environment ministry as we had listed the project as a drinking water scheme. Only the forest and wildlife permits were pending. But the SC order seems to point out that we need to take all the approvals afresh. That would raise some issues. We have asked our legal team to clarify,” said a senior Irrigation Department official.
