Digital Goa, Jan 2 – State government plans to agitate the issue of violation of Section 29 of the Wildlife Protection Act very seriously in Mhadei matter, informed Advocate General of Goa Devidas Pangam. “Our view is that no water from Mhadei Wildlife Sanctury can be diverted at all in law. No authority can permit it including the central govt. We will raise the point seriously and will not permit it to happen,” he said. The approval for DPR submitted by Karnataka is just technical clearance from the point of view of water management by the Central Water Commission(CWC). Several other permissions including that from Chief Wildlife Warden are required. Incidentally, Chief Wildlife Warden cannot grant such permission in case of Mhadei water as it will amount to diversion of water for purposes other than the wildlife sanctuary, said AG. “That is strong point in favour of Goa,” he added. Pangam said that the state govt will raise the issue with all central govt authorities on all fronts. State govt will write to the Center today demanding a copy of the DPR to understand as to what is it that is being approved by the technical team of CWC, added AG. State govt had earlier written to Karnataka demanding that they be given a copy of all communication to the center such as letters, DPR etc as regards Mhadei river. Despite this Karnataka has not given the DPR to Goa.
“Based on DPR only, Karnataka cannot start any work. We are taking all the steps to ensure that no diversion of water takes place in terms of Kalsa Bhandura rivulets,” asserted AG.
