The Supreme Court’s direction to the Union government on Monday to notify the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal before February 20 has led to anxiety in Mandya district.
The Mandya Zilla Raitha Hitharakshana Samiti has strongly objected the Supreme Court’s direction.
The samiti, which held an emergency meeting here on Tuesday to discuss the developments, said the State government had failed to protect the interests of farmers in the Cauvery basin.
“The samiti strongly objects to the court’s directive to the Centre. The State government should initiate measures to protect the interests of farmers,” M.S. Atmananda, samiti leader and former Minister, told The Hindu .
The court order would sound the death knell for farmers in the Cauvery basin in Karnataka who were already suffering owing to drought, he said.
Standing crops were being affected as the Irrigation Department had stopped releasing water in the canals in the district from January 1, he said.
Samiti members would meet Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar on Wednesday and request him to handover the reservoir’s supervision to the samiti, Mr. Atmananda said.
The meeting also decided to lay siege to the KRS in protest against the court’s directive.
Samiti president and former MP G. Made Gowda warned of launching severe protests across the State if the Centre notified the final award of the tribunal.
The samiti would decide on resuming protests here after meeting Mr. Shettar.
Meanwhile, the Mandya police have decided to step-up security in the vicinity of the reservoir.
