Mangaluru : Senior Congress leader B. Janardhana Poojary on Monday termed the Yettinahole project a major scam set to tarnish the clean image of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and demanded a probe by the Criminal Investigation Department into its implementation.

He told presspersons that Meghana Constructions that was executing the work belonged to an IAS officer, who earlier headed Krishna Bhagya Jal Nigam Ltd. State and Central agencies had raided his premises and found assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Mr. Poojary said that vested interests, including elected representatives and officials, were bent on tarnishing the image of Mr. Siddaramaiah.

They had been misguiding the Chief Minister to go ahead with the project that did not in benefit residents of the parched districts.

“Otherwise, what is the logic behind spending over Rs. 13,000 crore to transport just 0.85 tmcft of water,” Mr. Poojary asked.

According to the report by experts from the IISc., about 9.7 tmcft of water was generated in the Yettinahole catchment area, of which over 8.6 tmcft was required for local needs and for the natural flow.

Only 0.85 tmcft remains to be transported, he pointed out.

Already Rs. 1,142 crore had been spent on the project, which did not yield any benefit to the targeted areas, Mr. Poojary said.

“The officials are not only misleading the government and the people, but also the Green Tribunal with its bench in Chennai,” he said. In the affidavit, the officials had claimed that only 13 hectares (ha) of forest area would get destroyed in the project, whereas the actual destruction would be not less than 1,200 ha, he said.

Mr. Poojary said Kerala had experienced the ill-effects of diverting rivers. Saline water from the sea have entered rivers and destroyed fertile land after diverting waters from the Periyar and the Pampa, he added.