Mangaluru (The Hindu): Residents may demand separate State, Tulu Nadu, if the project is not shelved’.Senior Congress leader B. Janardhana Poojary on Saturday said he met All India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi to convey the sentiments of the people of Dakshina Kannada against the ongoing Yettinahole water diversion project.

Mr. Poojary told presspersons that he handed over a letter detailing the concerns of the residents.

The situation has reached such an extent that “the people of coastal Karnataka are contemplating a separate State, Tulu Nadu,” Mr. Poojary told Ms. Gandhi.

‘Vote-bank conspiracy’

In the letter, Mr. Poojary states: “The proposal was initially proposed by M. Veerappa Moily and approved by the BJP government when D.V. Sadananda Gowda was Chief Minister, with an eye on securing votes from Kolar, Chickballapur and Tumakuru. It was a big conspiracy to fool the public for the sake of securing votes.”

Mr. Poojary also submitted a copy of Environmental Flow Assessment in Yettinahole: Where is 24 tmc ft water to divert , a study by the Indian Institute of Science.

He urged the high command to intervene and ask the Chief Minister to halt the project. The funds earmarked for the project should be utilised to get water from other means for parched districts, Mr. Poojary said.