Digital Goa, Jan 3 – Environmentalist Rajendra Kerkar who has been following up the Mhadei dieversion issue for past several decades advised the government to put in efforts to make Goa’s case strong before the Supreme Court. In addition to the salinity study undertaken by National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, Kerkar advised the govt to get a study done through NIO Goa. The NIO study should focus on the significance of entry of fresh water from Mhadei into Goa Sea from the perspective of global warming and climate change, opined Kerkar. He also lamented that the state does not have appropriate mechanism to keep a tab on the ongoing work at the controversial site, while any small movement in the area is taken note of and acted upon by Karnataka. The Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal award will be reviewed in 2048. Goa govt has to strengthen its stand by then or else the state may lose more water to Karnataka, he warned. Kerkar said that the Kalsa-Bhandura project work is not going on at the disputed site presently.
