Goa Cong stages protest in Delhi over Centre's green signal to Kalasa-Banduri water project

The Goa Congress on Sunday staged a protest in the national capital against the Centre's environmental nod to the Kalasa-Banduri drinking water project in Karnataka.

The protesting leaders also handed over a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to intervene in the matter and stop the project, which will divert the waters from the Mahadayi river in Goa to Karnataka.

The Goa Pradesh Congress was led by its chief Girish Chodankar and joined by state and AICC leaders, including former state chief ministers Luizinho Faleiro, Francisco Sardinha and Digambar Kamat.

They alleged that the BJP government at the Centre has done it deliberately to "extract political benefit" for the just concluded Karnataka bye-elections.

"It is shocking to know that the Ministry of Environment, Forest (MOEF), Government of India has issued a clearance for the Kalasa-Banduri project of Karnataka for diversion of water from the Mahadayi river when the dispute is pending before the Supreme Court ..