Farmers and members of various organisations staged a protest in Mandya on Thursday opposing the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee’s (CWRC) recommendation to release 4,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu for 15 days. The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) subsequently upheld the direction.
Protesters block Bengaluru-Mysuru highway
Members of the Raitha Sangha, Karnataka Rakshana Vedike and BJP gathered near the Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Circle and briefly blocked the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway. Protesters raised slogans against the CWRC and the State government, while some stood upside down as a symbolic expression of their opposition.
The protesters alleged that Karnataka was repeatedly being asked to release Cauvery water despite concerns over reservoir storage and declining inflows. They demanded that the government prioritise the State’s drinking water and agricultural requirements.
Farmer leader Shivalli Chandrashekar said the storage in the Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS) reservoir was not sufficient for additional releases and questioned how the State would meet its own requirements if more water was sent to Tamil Nadu.
Karnataka plans to challenge direction
Chief Minister D K Shivakumar has said Karnataka will challenge the CWRC direction, citing declining rainfall and reduced inflows into the Cauvery basin. He said the State was facing a water crisis and that its reservoir situation would be assessed before further action.
According to the latest reported figures, KRS stood at 105.7 feet against its maximum level of 124.8 feet, with an inflow of 2,546 cusecs and an outflow of 4,078 cusecs.
The latest protests have once again brought Karnataka’s concerns over drinking water, irrigation and inter-State sharing to the centre of the Cauvery dispute.