Mhadei dispute: Goa seeks action against Karnataka officials
Panaji, Aug 20 : In a disobedience petition filed before the Mhadei Inter-state Water Disputes Tribunal in the national capital, the Goa government has sought the arrest of officials of the Karnataka government for violation of the adjudicating body's orders.
The petition comes a week after the Tribunal in its award allotted 13.42 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) water to Karnataka, resolving a decades-old dispute primarily between Goa and Karnataka, as well as Maharashtra government's claim over sharing of water from the Mhadei river, also known as the Mahadayi in Karnataka.
"In our prayer, we have prayed for the arrest of the officials of Karnataka who are involved in these violations and attachment of properties of the State of Karnataka," state's Advocate General Dattaprasad Lawande told reporters in Panaji.
He also said that the disobedience petition was filed under Rule 2A of the Civil Procedure Code before the Tribunal.
The Goa government has maintained that despite an injunction ordered by the Tribunal against actual diversion of the Mhadei water -- before the award was delivered -- Karnataka had already started diversion of the water using canals at Kalsa village, located on the Goa-Karnataka border.
The Goa government now wants the officials responsible for "illegally" diverting the water arrested and the canals built by them attached by the Tribunal.
Last week, the Tribunal which was hearing a dispute between Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra over sharing of water from the Mhadei river had allotted 13.42 tmcft (including 7.56 tmcft for diversion into the depleted Malaprabha river basin) from the Mhadei river basin to Karnataka, as against 36.55 tmcft demanded by the southern state, while also allotting 1.33 tmcft to Maharashtra.
Mhadei river is known as a lifeline in the northern parts of the state. It originates in Karnataka and meets the Arabian Sea in Panaji in Goa, while briefly flowing through the territory of Maharashtra.
While 78 per cent of the basin of the Mhadei river lies in Goa, 42.79 per cent of the basin is located in Karnataka and a small portion comes under Maharashtra.
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'Saved 30 to 50 million lives': Trump repeats claim of ending India-Pakistan conflict, amid Iran war
Washington: US President Donald Trump has once again claimed that he ended the India-Pakistan conflict, stating that he “saved 30 to 50 million lives,” amid the ongoing war with Iran that has been going on for 6 weeks.
According to Hindustan Times, speaking at a press conference at the White House on Monday, Trump said he had played a key role in stopping multiple global conflicts.
“I ended 8 wars, including India and Pakistan, so much so that the Prime Minister of Pakistan told me that I saved 30 to 50 million lives,” HT quoted Trump as saying.
He repeated the claim a second time in the same press conference, saying that he stopped 8 wars, including the India-Pakistan conflict, and lamented again about not winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
The India-Pakistan tensions had escalated in May last year following Operation Sindoor, launched by India after the Pahalgam terror attack. Trump has repeatedly claimed that the 3-day conflict was ended by him, though India has repeatedly denied the claim.
“We have one more to end by the way,” Trump said, though he did not specify if the war in Iran, Ukraine or another global conflict was on his radar.
He also criticised NATO and key US allies, including South Korea, Japan, and Australia, for not supporting US efforts in addressing global conflicts and securing strategic routes like the Strait of Hormuz.
“You know who else didn’t help us? South Korea didn’t help us. You know who else didn’t help us? Australia didn’t help us. You know who else didn’t help us? Japan. We’ve got 50,000 soldiers in Japan to protect them from North Korea. We have 45,000 soldiers in South Korea to protect us from Kim Jong Un, who I get along with very well,” Trump said.
He described the consequences that Iran would face if it didn’t reach a deal with the US by his 8 PM ET Tuesday deadline.
“We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night,” Trump said, adding that power plants could be “burning, exploding and never to be used again.”
Trump refused to say whether any civilian targets would be off limits in the U.S. response.
