Goa, Sept. 16 -- A delegation of the Mhadei Bachao Abhiyan(MBA) met Chief Minister Pramod Sawant at the Mantralaya in Porvorim on Monday, pressing the State government to intensify its legal and administrative efforts in the protracted Mhadei water dispute with Karnataka. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, MBA member Rajendra Kerkar said, "We have demanded that the government should make more efforts to ensure that the hearing in the Mhadei matter be fast-tracked before the Supreme Court."

He also added that the delegation urged the govern ment to provide police protection for visits to Kankumbi and Bandura to conduct an aerial survey of the diversion project, and to arrange a meeting with Union Environ ment Minister Bhupendra Yada...