Karnataka: Farmers continue protest over release of Cauvery water to TN

Farmers in Karnataka's Mandya continued their protest, demanding the government to stop releasing Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

Farmers in Karnataka's Mandya continued their protest on Friday demanding the government stop releasing Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

Farmers by blindfolding themselves on Tuesday held a sit-in against the government in in front of the Cauvery Irrigation Corporation office at the main gate of the KRS dam in Mandya. (HT_PRINT)

Farmers staged a protest on Tuesday, a day after the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) passed an interim order asking Karnataka to release 5,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu daily for the next 15 days till September 2.

Farmers by blindfolding themselves on Tuesday held a sit-in against the government in in front of the Cauvery Irrigation Corporation office at the main gate of the KRS dam in Mandya.

READ | SC to hear Cauvery water-sharing dispute between Karnataka, TN on Sept 6

Earlier on Thursday, the Cauvery Water Management Authority filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court stating that a meeting was held and after that Karnataka fulfilled the directions of CWMA by releasing a total of 1,49,898 cusec of water at Biligundulu from August 12 to August 26.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had said that it doesn’t possess any expertise on this issue and sought a report from the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) on the quantum of release made by Karnataka.

READ | Mekedatu project only solution to Cauvery water dispute with TN, says DK Shivakumar

Citing the scarcity of water, protesting farmers demanded to stop the release of water to Tamil Nadu immediately. "Farmers here don't have water, so why give it to Tamil Nadu?" They alleged that the state government does not "care" about the farmers here.

The matter has been a controversial issue between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for decades and they have been locked in battle over the sharing of water from the Cauvery river, which is a major source of irrigation and drinking water for millions of people in the region. The Centre formed the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) on June 2, 1990, to adjudicate disputes between Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Puducherry with respect to the water-sharing capacities.