Panaji, April 11 -- Farmers from north Karnataka, likely to be affected by the government's plans to divert waters of Mhadei river (Mahadayi in Karnataka), have joined the activists from Goa to demand the scrapping of Kalasa Banduri project.

As part of the project, the state government plans to divert waters of the Mhadei river (Mahadayi in Karnataka) that flows into Goa to the east-flowing Malaprabha river, a tributary of the Krishna.

"The farmers of Khanapur (in Belagavi) and surrounding villages have recognised that rather than being of benefit to them, the project is designed to take away the water that they depend on and divert it to other parts of the state, while at the same time destroying the forest of the Western Ghats that br...