‘Mhadei case will continue before new tribunal’

Porvorim: The state government on Thursday said that the Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which has been passed by the Lok Sabha, would have no bearing on the award of the

Mhadei

Water Disputes Tribunal.

Water resources minister (WRD) Filipe Neri Rodrigues also said that the pending disobedience petitions and other references filed by the three states would continue to be heard by a new Water Disputes Tribunal, if the Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill is passed.

The Mhadei issue came up for discussion after leader of the opposition Digambar Kamat expressed “apprehension and genuine concerns” that once passed by Parliament, the bill could have an adverse impact on Goa’s stand on the water dispute.

“The Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal would cease to exist, but the award would stand,” Rodrigues said, as he assured Kamat that the government would protect the state’s interests. “The references filed by the states will stand and will be transferred to a new tribunal constituted under the new act. The disobedience petitions filed against Karnataka will also be transferred to the new tribunal under the new act.”

The Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal gave its final order on August 14, 2018, and immediately after the judgement, or award as it is known as, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa filed references before the Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal.

The Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2019 proposes to have a two-tier dispute resolution mechanism for all water disputes by dissolving the existing water dispute tribunals.

The Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal has yet to be notified.

“Even if the award is notified, all the references made to the existing tribunal, those will stand in front of the new tribunal,” Rodrigues said.

The WRD minister said that the department had come across news reports of Karnataka diverting water from the Mhadei basin, but had no means to confirm it.