New Delhi : Dakshina Kannada MP from the BJP Nalin Kumar Kateel on Thursday urged the Centre not to approve the Yettinahole drinking water project at Sakleshpur, Hassan district in the State, as it harms the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats region.

Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha, he said if the proposed project was implemented, the Netravathi river would go dry and several parts of Dakshina Kannada would have water scarcity. With large number of farmers depending on water from the Netravathi river for agriculture activities, the project would have an adverse impact on them, he said.

Alleging that the State government started acquiring farmers’ land without following rules laid down in the Land Acquisition Act, the MP said the Centre should direct the State government not to go head with the project.

In the guise of the drinking water project, the State government was trying to divert the west-flowing rivers from Western Ghats to the eastern parts of the State, without studying the impact on environment, he said.

Seeking the Centre’s intervention to stop the project, Kateel wondered how the State government was going head with the project without obtaining environment clearance.