Panaji, Nov 4 (IANS): A memorandum submitted by an all-party delegation led by Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to Union MoEF Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday demanding withdrawal of his ministry's nod to the controversial Kalasa-Banduri project, has accused Karnataka of misrepresenting facts to the MoEF, claiming the water from the Mhadei river is being diverted for irrigation purposes and not for providing drinking water, as claimed by the neighbouring state.

The memorandum also claims, that allowing the Karnataka government to go ahead with the water diversion project would cause irreparable damage to three wildlife sanctuaries and one bird sanctuary in Goa, while also describing the Mhadei as the "lifeline", whose basin constitutes 42 per cent of the state's total geographical area.

"Any attempt to disrupt the water flow of Kalasa and Banduri nullahs will also adversely affect the whole ecosystem of three other wildlife sanctuaries namely Bhagwan Mahavir wildlife sanctuary, Bhagwan Mahavir national park and Bondla wildlife sanctuary and also Dr. Salim Ali bird sanctuary in Goa," said the letter signed by members of the delegation led by Sawant said. The delegation met Javadekar at New Delhi's Shashtri Bhavan on Monday.

Accusing Karnataka of trying to "destroy environment, ecology, life and the culture of Goa by diverting waters from the Mhadei river, the memorandum also pointed out various falsities in its communication with the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, which last month eventually earned the Southern state a nod from the central ministry for its water diversion project across the Mhadei river.

"Further, Karnataka has misled the Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change, by stating that the Kalsa-Banduri dam is a drinking water project and hence does not find place in the schedule of EIA Notification-2006," the letter said.

"Factually, the water from Kalsa-Banduri project is proposed to be diverted into Malaprabha Project. The Malaprabha Project is undisputedly an Irrigation Project. The said diverted water could be used in the Malaprabha Project for irrigation purpose," the letter also states.

The Goa government has filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court alleging illegalities in the water diversion project.

The Goa Opposition has called the MoEF nod "politically-driven", with an eye on the upcoming bypolls to the state's 15 Assembly constituencies.

The Mhadei river originates in Karnataka and meets the Arabian Sea in Panaji in Goa, while briefly flowing through Maharashtra.

An inter-state water disputes tribunal, set up by the Central government, after hearing the over two-decade-old dispute between Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra over Mhadei river water sharing, had, in its award in August 2018, allotted 13.42 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) from the Mhadei river basin (including 3.9 TMC for diversion into the depleted Malaprabha river basin) to Karnataka. Maharashtra has been allotted 1.33 TMC.