Farmers, Kannada groups protest near KRS Dam over Cauvery water release
Farmers and Kannada organisations staged protests near the Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS) reservoir here on Friday, July 31, against the Cauvery Water Management Authority's (CWMA) order to release water to Tamil Nadu, prompting police to deploy around 1,500 personnel amid tight security.
The CWMA upheld a recommendation by the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) to release 3,500 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu for 15 days, a decision protesters said ignored Karnataka's scant monsoon rainfall and prevailing drought conditions in the state.
Demonstrators, including members of the Kannada Rakshana Vedike, gathered near the reservoir, with some women protesters symbolically eating grass and rolling on the road in protest against the CWMA and CWRC orders.
Protesters also carried posters of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay marked with a cross. Police took several protesters into preventive custody as they dispersed the gathering.
"The Authority has signed a death warrant for our farmers. Under no circumstances should this be accepted," a protester said, alleging that Karnataka was repeatedly subjected to "injustice."
The protester appealed to Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar to take a firm stand, saying, "The entire Kannada community stands with you," and urged him not to release the water. He also called on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay to consider the ground reality before seeking water from Karnataka, and demanded that the matter be taken up before the Supreme Court.
Mandya Superintendent of Police Shobha Rani V J said elaborate security arrangements had been made across the district in anticipation of the protests.
"Two SPs, an Additional SP, nine DYSPs, 28 Circle Inspectors/Inspectors, 46 PSIs, and 59 ASIs have been deployed along with personnel as well as striking forces. We have deployed 10 companies of the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) and eight units of the District Armed Reserve (DAR). Altogether, around 1,500 personnel are on duty," she said.
The SP said personnel from other districts had also been deployed, barricades erected at sensitive locations, and public entry to Brindavan Gardens prohibited for the day.
Shivakumar has convened an all-party meeting on August 2 to discuss the issue. He and his Tamil Nadu counterpart Vijay are likely to meet on August 3, though it remains unclear whether the meeting will be held in person in Karnataka or conducted virtually. Shivakumar has offered to have Vijay visit the Cauvery region to assess the situation on the ground.
Meanwhile, farmers in Tamil Nadu opposed to Vijay's proposed visit to Karnataka said that if he does travel there, he should bring Shivakumar to visit the affected paddy cultivation areas in the Cauvery Delta region of Tamil Nadu.
(With inputs from PTI
