Bengaluru/Mandya

Protestsintensified in the Cauvery basin, especially in Mandya on Thursday, as farmers alleged that a huge amount of water is being released from the KRS dam to Tamil Nadu. The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) had upheld the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee’s (CWRC) recommendation of releasing 12,000 cusecs of water for 15 days starting from August 12.

The Tamil Nadu government has approached the Supreme Court seeking a direction for Karnataka to respect the CWMA’s order, sources said. At Sanjay Circle in Mandya, farmers staged sit-in demonstration. Kannada Sena activists extended support to the farmers’ organisation’s protest and blocked the old Bengaluru-Mysuru highway. The protesters charged there was only 109 feet of water in the dam and questioned the decision to release water to Tamil Nadu despite this. Leading the protest, Kannada activist Vatal Nagaraj appealed to people of Karnataka to unite and support the agitation to send across a strong message all over the country.

Mandya MLA Ravi Kumar Gowda (Ganiga) demanded that the release of water to Tamil Nadu be stopped. Speaking at the Cauvery Irrigation Advisory Committee meeting held on Wednesday, Gowda questioned how water could be denied to Karnataka’s farmers.

“On the one hand, you are releasing water to Tamil Nadu, while on the other hand you are saying that you will not give us water. If you do not give water to our farmers for their crops, it will become a very serious situation,” he said.

He also demanded calling a legislative session claiming there has been a severe drought, unforeseen seen in several decades. Sources in the chief minister’s office said that Cauvery dispute was raised before Union minister Amit Shah during a meeting with the Chief Ministers of southern states in Tamil Nadu. They said Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar made a pitch for a balancing reservoir across Cauvery river at Mekedatu in Karnataka near Kanakapura.