Despite objections raised by Goa to the diversion of water from the tributaries of River Mhadei, the Karnataka Neeravai Nigam Ltd (KNNL) had floated tenders for implementation of the Kalasa-Bhandura water project and now the state has extended the date for bidding till August 21, 2023.The earlier Karnataka government under Basavaraj Bommai had opened the tenders for bidding on March 29, before the state assembly elections were announced. However, as there were no takers, the chief engineer of KNNL based in Dharwad has extended the time period for bidding till August 21 now.The value of the Kalasa project is Rs 412 crore and of the Bhandura project is Rs 542 crore, which includes survey, investigation, design, supply, testing and commissioning of the project work. The project is for diversion dams across the Kalasa and the Haltara nullahs, which are tributaries of Goa’s River Mhadei.Karnataka’s water diversion projects will include the construction of eight diversion weirs across the tributaries of the Surla nullah, laying of pipelines, construction of jack wells, laying of power transmission lines and setting up pumping machines.“We have already raised our objections to the revised detailed project report of the Kalasa-Bhandura project and the Karnataka government has to take necessary mandatory clearances before proceeding to the actual work of the damming and diversion schemes,” said Goa WRD chief engineer Pramod Badami.As per the promises made in the election manifesto during Karnataka’s assembly elections, both chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy CM D K Shivakumar are trying their best for resumption of the work of the Kalasa -Bhandura project.Villagers from Hubbali-Dharwad have been demanding that the state take a delegation to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking necessary clearances for the water diversion project.The Karnataka government submitted a revised proposal to National Board of Wildlife and the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in connection with the Kalasa-Bhandura project to divert 26.9ha of forest land for non-forest purposes.