Karnataka’s farmers continue their protest over Cauvery water release to Tamil Nadu

CWMA on Tuesday had directed Karnataka to ensure 5,000 cusecs of Cauvery water at Billigundulu on the Tamil Nadu- Karnataka boundary every day up to September 12

Mandya: The farmers associations in Karnataka will on Thursday stage a fresh protest near Krishna Raja Sagar(KRS) reservoir in Mandya district against the release of 5,000 cusecs (cubic feet per second) of Cauvery water to the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu.

The Farmers will also stage a protest in front of the Mandya district collector’s office today. Complying with the direction of Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), Karnataka on Wednesday started releasing water from its reservoirs to Tamil Nadu.

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CWMA on Tuesday had directed Karnataka to ensure 5,000 cusecs of Cauvery water at Billigundulu on the Tamil Nadu- Karnataka boundary every day up to September 12.

CWMA’s direction came after the Cauvery Water Regulation Committe (CWRC) recommended Karnataka release 5,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. Though Karnataka made a protest at CWRC’s recommendation CWMA upheld it.

After the Karnataka government started complying with CWMA’s direction farmers started protesting saying that the Cauvery basin was facing severe drought and water storage in the reservoirs was barely enough to meet the drinking water needs of the region. Farmers in Mandya on Wednesday staged a protest late at night against the CWMA’s decision.

Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the Tamil Nadu government’s plea seeking direction to Karnataka to release 24,000 cusecs of water daily starting from August 14 to the end of the month- from the reservoirs in Karnataka on Friday. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister  DK Shivakumar is expected to leave for Delhi on Thursday to discuss the Cauvery case with Karnataka’s legal team.

“I’m going to Delhi to to meet our legal team. The hearing (on TN’s plea on Cauvery water) will be coming on Friday. All ready our department officials argued very well after Tamil Nadu demanded 24-25 TMC. we said we can give 3 thousand cusecs,” DK Shivakumar had said on Wednesday.

Earlier Tamil Nadu Water resources minister Durai Murugan said that the CWMA was not acting in a proper manner.

“In relation to this issue, we will emphasize the need of the Tamil Nadu government side in the court. There is a definition of how to distribute Cauvery water when there is a lot of water, but there is no definition of how to distribute the water when there is a shortage of water” he said