Once again the Supreme Court had to intervene and direct the central government to set up a water dispute tribunal to resolve the differences between Goa and Karnataka over diversion of water from the Mhadei basin.

The task could have been accomplished in the normal course but the Centre kept the decision pending for eight years, in spite of its assurance to the Goa government to constitute a tribunal at the earliest. Significantly, the apex court has also forwarded the names of three judges to be appointed to comprise the tribunal. It is for the central government now to act without losing any time on the matter. However, the state should not think that the constitution of a water dispute tribunal is the end of the problem. The state’s efforts should be to persuade the Mhadei tribunal to look beyond finding ways of sharing water. The tribunal needs to address the concern that the Mhadei catchment in Karnataka should be left undisturbed or else there would be a drastic change in Goa’s ecology. The future of Goa’s ecology directly depends on the Mhadei catchment and, therefore, the tribunal would have to adopt a scientific and systematic approach. A look at the proceedings of the five river water tribunals set up in the country for rivers Godavari, Krishna, Narmada, Ravi and Beas, and Cauveri makes it clear that they have only focused on the issue of water sharing. They have not taken into consideration the ecological issues and communities’ relations to those rivers. As the Mhadei dispute concerns the future of the small and ecologically still much safer than many states, no efforts should be spared at the government and community level to get a sustainable solution out of the tribunal.