Panaji: The state government on Monday filed an affidavit before the
Mhadei
water disputes tribunal, New Delhi, stating that
Karnataka has mismanaged water in the Malaprabha basin and failed to utilize the waters of Bennehalla Nalla, which has a catchment area of more than twice the Mhadei basin.
The tribunal is hearing the dispute between Goa, Karnataka and
Maharashtra over the sharing of Mhadei waters. Karnataka has sought the diversion of 7.56 TMC of water from the Mhadei basin to meet its requirements.
Opposing the application filed by Karnataka, Atmaram Nadkarni, appearing for Goa, said that state government’s affidavit stressed that Karnataka promotes water-guzzling crops such as sugarcane, and is also supplying water in large quantities to industry.
The affidavit alleged that Karnataka has not tapped water from the two nallas of the Malaprabha basin.
Referring to a map of the Malaprabha project, the affidavit stated that the Joul Nalla has a catchment area of 244 sq. km, and the Bennehalla Nalla, around 5,048 sq. km, more than twice the entire Mhadei basin catchment area.
While alleging that the water scarcity claimed by Karnataka in the Malaprabha basin is artificially created, the affidavit stated that a proposal to utilize the waters of Bennehalla Nalla was prepared by Karnataka’s water resources department. “In this (proposal), it was estimated that the yield of the Bennehalla Nala was 10.92 TMC on 75% dependability, of which as per the same proposal, hardly1.5 TMC has been put to use.” Goa’s affidavit stated.