The Supreme Court’s direction to the State to release 15,000 cusecs of Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu for the next 10 days has triggered massive protests across the district.
The Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) members staged a ‘Jal Satyagraha’ at the Cauvery river near Srirangapatna, besides staging demonstrations at over 15 places along the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway between Srirangapatna and Maddur. The protests paralysed the traffic on the busy stretch, which is a connecting highway for several States in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
The farmers burnt effigies and posters of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalitaa and urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah not to discharge water as the State is reeling under severe drought.
For the last four years, the farmers in the Cauvery delta in Karnataka have been losing crops continuously owing to either drought or Cauvery water crisis, KRRS leader K.S. Nanjundegowda, who led the ‘Jala Satyagraha’, said.
Addressing the agitators at Maddur, KRRS leader Konasale Narasaraju termed the apex court’s order as ‘death knell’ for farmers in the Cauvery region. A large number of farmers took to the streets under his leadership in protest against the order.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has called for an-all party meeting on Tuesday to review the situation. Law Minister T.B. Jayachandra termed the Supreme Court directive a "setback".
Meeting
A meeting of farmers and Kannada organisations has been organised in the town on Monday evening to decide the future course of action pertaining to the Supreme Court’s order.
