Panaji, May 17 (PTI) Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday said that the recently published report of the CSIR–National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) will not affect the state's case in the Supreme Court.
Talking to reporters in Ponda, Sawant said the state government had not asked the CSIR-NIO to conduct research on the Mhadei River.
"If they (CSIR-NIO) have done it, they have done it on their own accord. The government has nothing to do with it," he said, adding that such a report will not impact Goa's case before the Supreme Court.
The CSIR-NIO's report, published in the Journal of Earth System Sciences, said that Karnataka’s plans to divert Mhadei water, as approved by the Water Dispute Tribunal, would have less impact on Goa and can be addressed through mitigation measures.
The Mhadei River originates in Karnataka and runs through Maharashtra into Goa, meeting the Arabian Sea near Panaji.
Goa has moved the Supreme Court against the Water Dispute Tribunal's verdict on sharing the river water with Karnataka and Maharashtra.
On May 15, members of the Mhadei Movement and several citizens demonstrated outside the NIO complex near Dona Paula, demanding an explanation from the leading institute about the study conducted by its three hydrologists.