Normal life in Tamil Nadu may come to a grinding halt on Saturday following the bandh call given by the Opposition parties against the move by Karnataka Government to go ahead with the construction of the Mekedatu reservoir in Cauvery River. All political parties in Tamil Nadu have declared that they would oppose the Karnataka Government’s plan to build the reservoir across
the Cauvery.
This is the first time in recent history all major parties come together to draw the attention of the Centre towards a burning issue. leaders of farmers’ unions have asked the Government not to ply vehicles other than ambulances and other emergency services vehicles.
In addition to the Opposition to the Karnataka Government’s move to go ahead with the construction of the reservoir, the farmers in Tamil Nadu want the Union Government to constitute the Cauvery Management Board as per the final verdict of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal which was delivered in 2007.
“Any move by Karnataka to construct a reservoir in Cauvery will make 22 districts in Tamil Nadu a desert. The river is the lifeline of Tamil Nadu,” PR Mandian, chief coordinator, Associations of Farmers in Tamil Nadu, told The Pioneer.
He said the bandh would be total as the general public has been told not to venture out on Saturday. “This agitation is to ensure the availability of drinking water to the people of the State. More than five crore people in the State is affected by the move of the Karnataka government,” he said. Mandian said 25 lakh acres of cultivable land in Tamil Nadu is dependent on Cauvery water.
According to Pandian, Saturday’s agitation is to protest against the Karnataka government’s move to build reservoir and to make the Union Government to take immediate steps for constituting the CMB. “Other than that we do not have any agenda in the bundh call given on Saturday”, he said.
BJP’s Tamil Nadu chief Dr Tamilissai Soundararajan has announced the party’s support to the apprehension of the farmers. “We are staying away from the bundh as we are against causing hardship to anybody. Moreover, Karnataka has not been given permission by the Union Government for constructing the Mekedatu dam,” she said.