Panaji, May 15 (). The Congress in Goa has accused Chief Minister Pramod Sawant of habitual lying, saying the Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal was set up by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his tenure in 2010 and not Sawant’s previous tenure.
Congress General Secretary Srinivas Khalap said, Pramod Sawant, a habitual liar, now claims that the Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal was constituted during his tenure as the Chief Minister of Goa. The fact is that it was notified in November 2010 by the then Congress government under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
He was reacting to a statement reportedly made by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Sunday that all major policy decisions, including setting up of the Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal, were taken during his tenure.
Khalap said, “Our lifeline Mhadei has been murdered only after coming to power in 2012 in Goa and in 2014 at the Centre.” He asked why he could not take credit for the approval given to the Detailed Project Report of Kalsa-Bhanduri.
The Congress party has always fought for Mhadei, he said. To save our lifeline Maa Mahadei, we staged dharnas in all taluks of Goa as well as at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi against the decisions of BJP governments at the Centre, Karnataka and Goa. We protested at Raj Bhavan, IFFI opening ceremony and at various places.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met an all-party delegation from Goa and listened to our request and set up the Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal, Khalap said. Unfortunately, the current Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not get time to meet the Goan delegation on the Mhadei issue in the last nine years.
Goa and Karnataka are currently fighting a dispute in a central tribunal over the Kalsa-Bhanduri dam project on the waters of the Mhadei river.
SGK
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