Panaji:Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday said that his government has filed a contempt petition before the Supreme Court alleging Karnataka of illegally diverting water from the Mhadei river basin via the newly constructed Kalasa-Banduri canal.
"Contempt Petition has been filed in the Hon'ble Supreme Court against Karnataka for illegal diversion of Mhadei River water. We will continue to fight for our right," Sawant tweeted.
The announcement comes a day after Sawant during a media interaction on Monday, said that his government has collected enough evidence to prove that Karnataka has started diverting water from the inter-state river, Mhadei, to the deficit basin of the Malaprabha river in Karnataka.
"We are filing a contempt petition with evidence to show how they have diverted water. There is no pressure on us from the Centre. There will be no injustice on Goa from the Centre. For me the Mahadayi (Mhadei in Goa) is not a political issue, it is an issue linked to my heart," Sawant said on Monday.
The contents of the contempt petition filed by the Goa government, claims that Karnataka has committed contempt against the apex court, by already diverting water from the Mhadei river, despite a special leave petition (SLP) filed by the Goa government pending with the top court.
The SLP, which was filed in July last year, also challenges the Mhadei Water Dispute Tribunal award in 2018, which allowed Karnataka to divert 13.42 TMC water from the river basin.