Panaji, Mar 20 (IANS): Goa Forward Party President and MLA Vijai Sardesai on Wednesday said that Karnataka has started the construction of a nullah to divert water from Kalasa to Malaprabha basin and has asked the Goa government to come clean on it.

“The government is acting deaf, blind and dumb on the Mhadei issue. In a move that should shock every self-respecting Goan, Karnataka has started the construction of a nullah to divert water from Kalasa to Malaprabha basin,” Sardesai said, while sharing a video of the ongoing work of the nullah.

He said that the Goa government is looking the other way, and misleading people by painting a rosy picture.

“I have been demanding every day that the WRD Minister Subhash Shirodkar convene the House Committee, but despite assurances given even in the Assembly, the government is not bothered to do so,” Sardesai said.

He said that Goa’s abject surrender to Karnataka exposes once again its willingness to overlook the impending water disaster facing poor Goans, so that 28 BJP Karnataka MPs can get elected.

Goa and Karnataka are battling a dispute over the Kalasa-Banduri dam project across the water of Mhadei river. Mhadei originates in Karnataka and meets the Arabian Sea in Panaji. While the river traverses 28.8 km in Karnataka, it is 81.2 km in length in Goa.

Karnataka plans to construct dams on the river, aimed at diverting the water into its water-starved Malaprabha basin in North Karnataka.