Karnataka: Mandya farmers continue to protest over Cauvery water row

The farmers in Mandya, protesting to stop water being released from Karnataka dams to Tamil Nadu, continued their demonstration

Bengaluru: The farmers in Mandya, protesting to stop water being released from Karnataka dams to Tamil Nadu, continued their demonstration here on Saturday.

Farmers across Karnataka have been protesting since the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) ordered the state to release 5000 cusecs of water to its neighbouring state Tamil Nadu, for 15 days, effective from September 13.

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Earlier on Thursday, the Supreme Court refused to interfere with the CWMA order. Disappointed with the Supreme Court’s Thursday order, a strike in Mandya was called by activists and farmers.

Due to the strike, most of the private and public vehicles were off the road and business establishments remained shut in the Mandya district on Saturday.

HD Kumaraswamy accused the Congress government of having failed the people of the state on the issue.

“Cauvery water is our lifeline water. This year we didn’t get proper rain. We have been fighting for many years for Cauvery water. Every day we are watching these protests on TV. There has been a Rs 30,000 cr loss for our farmers as per a government report. The government has failed on the Cauvery water issue,” he said.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai, PS Narasimha and Prashant Kumar Mishra on Thursday while refusing to interfere in the Cauvery water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu said both CWMA and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) are regularly meeting and monitoring the water requirements every 15 days.

The court declined to entertain an application filed by the Tamil Nadu government to increase its current share of Cauvery water from 5,000 to 7,200 cusecs per day.

Tamil Nadu has sought fresh directions for the release of Cauvery River water from Karnataka, claiming that the neighbouring State had changed its stand, and had released a reduced quantum of water as against what was agreed upon earlier.