A large number of farmers from the Nidaghatta tail-end region staged a protest outside the Irrigation Department office off the Bangalore-Mysore Highway here on Friday, to protest against the department’s “failure” to ensure regular water supply for their crops.
Farmers from several villages in Maddur taluk participated in the protest.
Farmers in the tail-end region cultivate paddy, sugarcane, tomato and other crops on hundreds of acres; those standing crops have been affected by the shortage of water, they said, and blamed the department for this.
The department has been discharging water through canals in Nidaghatta for irrigation; however, farmers in the upper reaches have been drawing excess water.
As a result, farmers in the tail-end region are not getting enough water, protesters said. “We have submitted several memoranda to the officials concerned, but they have neglected our demands,” Thammanna, a farmer, alleged.
They raised slogans against Mandya district in-charge Minister M.H. Ambareesh and department officials for not addressing their grievances.
They wanted Mr. Ambareesh to inspect the canals and agricultural fields in the tail-end region and understand the problems they were facing. They said that the crops would wither if immediate action was not taken.
The farmers withdrew their protest when department officials promised to resolve the issue.
