PANAJI: A five-member state delegation of the Bharatiya Janata Party will call upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to request him as regards reversing the central government order withdrawing permission to additional solicitor general Atmaram Nadkarni to represent Goa state in the Mhadei water diversion matter.
Coming out with this information, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar on Monday said that although he has already written a letter to the Prime Minister in this context, the state unit of the BJP thought it would be appropriate to call on Modi and inform him of the issue and its seriousness for Goa.
“The delegation will include three BJP Members of Parliament namely Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Minister of State for AYUSH (independent charge) Shripad Naik, and Narendra Sawaikar, besides state BJP president Vinay Tendulkar and myself,” he added.
Recently, the Union ministry of law and justice had withdrawn the permission earlier granted to Nadkarni to represent Goa in the Mhadei case.
Parsekar said that an appointment has been sought from the Prime Minister’s Office, with a request that the information about the appointment should be made known two days in advance, as there would be political hustle-bustle in the state following announcement of results of the state assembly election.
“We are hoping to get the appointment after March 11, as presently the Prime Minister is busy in campaigning for the party in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh election,” he maintained.
Parsekar also expressed satisfaction over the direction of the Supreme Court to the Union ministry of environment and forest to submit a report on the environmental damage caused by the ongoing work of the Kalasa canal by Karnataka in Kankumbi, which in turn has given respite to Goa in the Mhadei water disputes case.
In the year 2009, the court had asked the MoEF not to allow Karnataka to continue the canal work without obtaining necessary environmental clearance. The court questioned as to how Karnataka went ahead with the work of the canal without obtaining the same.
The delegation is also expected to request the Prime Minister not to dissolve the Mhadei Water Dispute Tribunal, as the central government has recently announced setting up of a single, permanent tribunal to help examine and resolve all interstate water-sharing disputes quickly, which is to be headed by a retired Supreme Court judge.