President of the Kannada Development Authority (KDA) Mukhyamantri Chandru on Wednesday requested people from all sections of society to participate in the Cauvery agitation.
Participating in the 14th day of “continuous protests”, organised by the Mandya Zilla Raitha Hitharakshana Samiti, near Sir M. Visvesvaraya statue on the Bangalore–Mysore Highway, Mr. Chandru asked the State government “not to release Cauvery waters to Tamil Nadu”.
People across the State should voluntarily participate in the Cauvery agitation. They must raise their voice against releasing water to Tamil Nadu when Karnataka itself was facing severe drought, he said.
Mr. Chandru urged protesters to intensify the agitation to put pressure on the Union government to solve the issue.
The former MP and samiti president G. Made Gowda urged the State government to present a strong case in the Supreme Court for not releasing water.
Meanwhile, the agitation has gained strength with more than 35 associations staging protests in different parts of the district on Wednesday.
Residents of Keregodu hobli and Sunka Thonnur village observed a bandh called by the samiti.
The residents, who burnt effigies of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, urged the State government to put pressure on the Centre to protect the interests of farmers in Karnataka.
Members of the Dalit Sangharsh Samiti, Vokkaligara Okkoota and Vishwakarma community staged protests in Mandya.
Raising slogans against the Tamil Nadu government and the Cauvery River Authority (CRA), they urged Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar to request the Union government not to succumb to the Tamil Nadu government’s “pressure politics”.
Threaten to lay siege
The protesters and samiti members threatened to lay siege to Central government offices across the State to draw the Centre’s attention to the Cauvery water issue.
Protests were also held in Malavalli, Nagamangala, K.R. Pet, Maddur, Srirangapatna, Pandavapur, Bharati Nagar and K.M. Doddi.
On Wednesday too, traffic on several roads, including the Bangalore–Mysore Highway, was affected owing to protests.
