Hundreds of farmers staged protests in Karnataka’s Mandya district on Wednesday after the Supreme Court ordered the State to release water at the rate of 10,000 cusecs (cubic feet per second) to Tamil Nadu.
The Mandya Zilla Raitha Hitharakshana Samiti held a meeting to discuss the Supreme Court order. The former MP and samiti president, G. Made Gowda, and local leaders attended the meeting.
Terming the order a “death knell for farmers in the Cauvery basin,” Mr. Gowda said “the government should not release water to Tamil Nadu when farmers in the Cauvery basin in the State are losing their crops.”
The samiti and the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha have decided to intensify protests from Thursday.
“We will stage protests if the State government releases water to Tamil Nadu,” KRRS leader K.S. Puttannaiah told media persons.
Security
Meanwhile, the police have tightened security around the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) reservoir near Srirangapatna.
“Samiti members may stage demonstrations in the vicinity of the KRS and hence we have deployed additional security personnel around the reservoir,” a senior police officer told The Hindu.
