Karnataka farmers protest Cauvery water release to Tamil Nadu, Stage demonstration near KRS Dam

Karnataka farmers and a few Kannada organisations protested on Friday around the Cauvery Krishna Sagara (KRS) Dam in Mandya district in Karnataka in protest at the release of water to Tamil Nadu by the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA).

The protests came after the CWMA chose to accept the recommendation of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) that Karnataka grant 3,500 cusecs of water daily for a period of 15 days to the neighbouring state.

The protesters protested that the authority had failed to look into the situation in Karnataka where a small part of the region was witnessing a severe drought and inadequate monsoon rains. They said that letting out water at this stage will affect the farmers and agriculture in Karnataka.

Kannada Rakshana Vedike and the farmers’ associations and local community members rallied around protesting near the reservoir. Some women protesters were seen eating “grass” in a symbolic way and others were seen rolling on the road as a demonstration of the difficulties faced by farmers due to water scarcity.

Demonstrators also held placards with the name and pictures of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, with a slash across them in protest over the water sharing matter.

In anticipation of unrest, police deployed around 1,500 officers into the KRS reservoir area to ensure law and order.

Political and public pressure on the Cauvery issue is growing by the day as Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar is holding an all-party meeting at his office in Bangalore on August 2 to decide on Karnataka’s next steps in response to the CWMA order.