Mahadayi row: Let Parrikar clarify his stand says Venugopal

DHNS

December 29, 2017

Bengaluru, Dec 29: AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka K C Venugopal on Friday said Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar should first clarify his stand on releasing Mahadayi water to Karnataka.

"Following which, the Goa Congress will also take an appropriate stand," Venugopal added.

"First, Parrikar should have written to the Karnataka chief minister. Why did he write to Yeddyurappa? Let him first adopt a clear stand. Then, the Goa Congress will also take an appropriate stand," Venugopal told reporters in Bengaluru.

Why the stand-off?

Parrikar has written to Karnataka BJP president B S Yeddyurappa expressing willingness to release "reasonable and justified" quantum of water to drought-hit north Karnataka.

And the Goa Congress has opposed Parrikar's stance on sharing Mahadayi waters with Karnataka.

Farmer leaders say Parrikar's letter to Yeddyurappa is of little value. Congress and BJP are still trading barbs.

As an interim measure, Karnataka has sought release of 7.56 TMC to parts of north Karnataka to meet drinking water needs.

Venugopal also hit out at BJP leaders for "needlessly" staging a protest before the Congress headquarters on December 27 in Bengaluru.

"The very fact that Parrikar wrote to Yeddyurappa shows that the BJP has no intention of releasing water," Venugopal opined.

The dispute

The three-decade-old Mahadayi river dispute involves Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa.

Karnataka has demanded diverting some share of the Mahadayi river water from its tributaries Kalasa and Banduri to the drought-hit districts of north Karnataka.

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Elusive bamboo shrimp resurfaces in Mangaluru estuary after 70 years

News Network

December 7,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 7: A rare bamboo shrimp has been rediscovered on mainland India more than 70 years after it was last reported, confirming for the first time the presence of Atyopsis spinipes in the country. The find was made by researchers from the Centre for Climate Change Studies at Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, during surveys in Karnataka and Odisha.

The team — shrimp expert Dr S Prakash, PhD scholar K Kunjulakshmi, and Mangaluru-based researcher Maclean Antony Santos — combined field surveys, ecological assessments and DNA analysis to identify the elusive species. Their findings, published in Zootaxa, resolve decades of taxonomic confusion stemming from a 1951 report that misidentified the species as Atyopsis moluccensis without strong evidence.

The shrimp has now been confirmed at two locations: the Mulki–Pavanje estuary near Mangaluru and the Kuakhai River in Bhubaneswar. Historical specimens from the Andaman Islands, previously labelled as A. moluccensis, were also found to be misidentified and actually belong to A. spinipes.

The rediscovery began after an aquarium hobbyist in Odisha spotted a shrimp in 2022, prompting systematic surveys across Udupi, Karwar and Mangaluru. Four female specimens were collected in Mulki and one in Odisha, all genetically matching.

Researchers warn the species may exist in very small, vulnerable populations as freshwater habitats face increasing pressure from pollution, sand mining and infrastructure development. All verified specimens have been deposited with the Zoological Survey of India for future reference.

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