A large number of farmers from Mandya and Mysuru districts were detained on Friday afternoon when they attempted to lay siege to Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS), near Srirangapatna, demanding release of Cauvery and Hemavati waters into canals to save the standing crops. They were later released.
Tension prevailed for sometime as hundreds of farmers tried to break the police security to enter the reservoir premises. The protest was led by Darshan Puttannaiah, Badagalapura Nagendra and other Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene leaders.
According to officials of the Department of Agriculture, farmers had sown crops, including paddy and sugarcane, in at least 10,000 acres across Manyda district. The crops were withering owing to non-release of Cauvery and Hemavati waters from the KRS and Gorur dam in Hassan district, respectively.
A view of the Krishnaraja Sagar in Mandya district on Friday.
An indefinite protest was launched near Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Ltd. office in the town and the deadline (of 11 a.m. on Friday) was given to the State government to release water.
The district administration and the State government, however, said their demands could not be fulfilled as the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) has to take a call on it. The water level in the KRS has been low owing to deficient rainfall. It has been slowly inching towards the dead storage level of 74 ft. KRS had water up to 79.77 ft. as against the maximum of 124.8 ft on Friday.
The live storage in the reservoir is also plummeting. The live storage on Friday was 6.28 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) as against the maximum of 45.051 tmcft. The live storage of the KRS on the corresponding day last year was 23.15 tmcft.
There were some good tidings even as protesters tried to lay siege to KRS on Friday. With the catchments of the Cauvery in Kodagu district witnessing some rain in the last couple of days, the inflow into the KRS saw some improvement.
Kodagu received 5.47 mm of rainfall between 8.30 a.m. of Thursday and 8.30 a.m. of Friday.
Subsequently, the inflow into KRS rose to the rate of 655 cusecs on Friday morning. The reservoir was getting water at the rate of 303 cusecs on Thursday morning. The outflow was measured at 324 cusecs on Friday morning.
The Cauvery catchment areas in Kodagu and in the upstream of the reservoir in Mandya and Mysuru districts are expected to receive some good rain shortly, Irrigation Department officials said.
