Irked by the “negligent attitude” of the people in Bangalore towards the Cauvery water crisis, farmers here are planning to stop drinking water supply to Bangalore city.
The State capital gets at least 300 cusecs of water from the Cauvery from Torekadanahalli water project, near Malavalli, every day.
Mandya and Mysore have been witnessing roadblocks and agitations over the Cauvery waters issue for the past two weeks.
The Mandya Zilla Raitha Hitarakshana Samiti, which is in the forefront of the stir, feels that people in Bangalore have been “indifferent” to its cause.
“Hence, we are planning to stop drinking water to Bangalore from Torekadanahalli water project,” samiti’s organising secretary K.S. Nanjunde Gowda told The Hindu here on Thursday.
“Bangalore depends on Cauvery water. Only if the supply is stopped will people and political leaders there will understand the plight of farmers in Mandya and Mysore,” he said.
Drought
Farmers in the district are reeling under severe drought. The Mandya district administration stopped discharge of water to all major canals for 45 days from May 31. The water-level at the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) is depleting owing to the release of water to Tamil Nadu.
“Though Bangalore depends on Cauvery water, its residents are not protesting against the water release to Tamil Nadu,” Mr. Nanjunde Gowda said.
“Farmers in Mandya and Mysore are continuously staging protests, and people in Bangalore too must do that,” he said.
Statewide protest
Samiti president and former MP G. Made Gowda, who has been leading the struggle on the issue for over two decades, emphasised the urgency of holding a Statewide protest over the Cauvery issue.
“Everyone in the State should express their solidarity with us on the Cauvery waters issue. Tamil Nadu does not require water now, farmers dependent on the Cauvery have not taken up agricultural activities due to shortage of water,” Mr. Gowda said.
The samiti would hold dialogue with farmers of Krishna and Tungabhadra basins, he said and added that mutual support was necessary to ensure that their interests were protected.
