Karnataka began releasing Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu from Tuesday night as per the Supreme Court order to release 15,000 cusecs a day for 10 days, even as protests against the decision continued to disrupt inter-State movement.
Over 11,000 cusecs of Cauvery water is being released from the KRS reservoir and over 5,000 cusecs from the Kabini reservoir, according to highly placed official sources, to provide for full realisation of the quantum in Tamil Nadu. The sources said that Biligundlu in Tamil Nadu is over 100 km away and there are chances of farmers drawing water with the help of pump sets. Besides some quantum of water could evaporate in the run-off, the sources said. Hence the government had decided to release 16,000 cusecs from the two reservoirs.
Meanwhile, protests and road blocks continued in Mandya for the second day on Wednesday, disrupting transport between Mysuru and Bengaluru. All services of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation to Karnataka remained suspended.
Protesting farmers held
Farmers led by Karnataka Sugarcane Growers’ Association president Kuruburu Shanth Kumar were arrested near K. Gudi village (one kilometre from the Kabini reservoir) while they were on their way to lay a siege to the dam, in protest against the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. The day also saw farmers of Srirangapatna holding a protest in the Cauvery river under the Wellesley bridge.
On Wednesday, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation cancelled 536 scheduled routes — primarily heading towards Madikeri, Wayanad, Mysuru, Chamrajnagar and Mandya. It managed to run services to Udhagamandalam by taking a diversion.
Though the KSRTC operated a limited number of buses on the alternative route between Bengaluru and Mysuru for a few hours in the morning, protests on the road later forced it to suspend services.
