The Supreme Court’s order to Karnataka on releasing 2,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu till February 7 has triggered protests in Maddur of the district.
On Thursday, many Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) members blocked the traffic on Bengaluru-Mysuru highway and urged the State government not to discharge water as the farmers here are reeling under severe drought.
KRRS leader Konasale Narasaraju, who led the protest, said that the farmers in the Cauvery delta, for the last several years, have been losing crops continuously owing to drought and the Cauvery water crisis.
The government should defy the apex court’s order, he said.
Meanwhile, members of Kasturi Karnataka Janapara Vedike also staged a protest on the highway at Maddur against the order on Thursday.
Effigy burnt
They burnt an effigy of the Tamil Nadu State government and termed the apex court’s order as ‘death knell’ for farmers in the Cauvery region.
The protests paralysed the traffic on the highway for a while.
