Security was tightened around the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) reservoir near Srirangapatna in the district on Tuesday ahead of the Cauvery River Authority (CRA) meeting that will be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday.
The Mandya Zilla Raitha Hitarakshana Samiti has threatened to launch a ‘jail bharo’ if the CRA fails to safeguard the interests of farmers in the State. The Mandya district police have deployed additional police forces near the KRS ahead of Wednesday’s meeting.
Senior police officials are supervising the security arrangements. Additional forces, including the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) and District Armed Reserve (DAR) have been kept on high alert in view of the farmers’ protests in case the CRA meeting orders Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu, a senior police officer said.
“We are monitoring the situation and we have already deployed additional police personnel near KRS,” Koushalendra Kumar, Mandya Superintendent of Police, told The Hindu here on Tuesday.
Jail bharo
“We have decided to intensify our protest against releasing Cauvery water from September 19. If the CRA meeting’s outcome is against the State, we will hold ‘jail bharo’ protest,” samiti president G. Made Gowda told presspersons here on Tuesday.
