‘Stoppage of water release temporary’

Irrigation official says it was done to check condition of canals

Hours after the Tamil Nadu government announced that it would file a contempt of court petition in the Supreme Court against Karnataka for stopping release of water, officials of Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Ltd. (CNNL) clarified that the stoppage was “temporary and [was] just to check the condition of the canals” around the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS).

Executive engineer of CNNL Vijay Kumar, who addressed a press conference here on Tuesday that ended within two minutes after some reporters got into an argument with him, said that CNNL had stopped water release to check the condition of the canals and also because of heavy rain in the vicinity of the KRS and Srirangapatna.

Meanwhile, Mandya Raitha Hitharakshana Samiti president and former MP G. Made Gowda instructed samiti members and farmers not to disrupt public transport services in the district.

However, he asked them to continue staging protests against the Cauvery River Authority’s (CRA) direction to release 9,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu.

“Everyone should participate in the protest so that the Supreme Court and the CRA understand the plight of farmers in the Cauvery basin,” Mr. Gowda, who has been on a fast for the last six days, said.

Bus services resume

Despite samiti members staging protests across the district, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) resumed operation of bus services on Tuesday.