Protests continue in Karnataka as Cauvery water is released to Tamil Nadu

BENGALURU: Protests continued for the third consecutive day today in Mandya district and several parts of southern Karnataka as the state government released Cauvery river water to neighbouring Tamil Nadu obeying the Supreme Court's direction.

Protesting farmers entered into the flowing waters upto the waist-level in Srirangapatna near Mandya during which some of them fell ill.

Police said the sick farmers were treated as outpatients and discharged.

Vehicular movement between Bengaluru and Mysuru crippled as well as the highway was blocked at several places in Mandya district, the epicentre of the stir.
Six lorries with Tamil Nadu registration number were damaged in stone-pelting near an oil factory at Boothana Hosur in the district.

Activists of pro-Kannada group Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, resorted to rail-roko in Belagavi and Bengaluru.

The Police have deployed heavy security at Krishna Raja Sagar dam area and other three reservoirs of the Cauvery basin area- Kabini, Hemavathi and Harangi.

Protests have been reported from several parts of the state including Bengaluru, Kolar, Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, Hassan, as also from few northern districts.

Transport services- both private and government- through Mysuru and Mandya remained suspended today also.

As the protests escalated, the Karnataka government said it has had to comply with the Supreme Court order though the state itself is facing "serious distress".

The Siddaramaiah government said it would move the Supreme Court seeking modification in its order to release 15,000 cusecs of water per day to Tamil Nadu for 10 days because of the difficulties in implementing it.

It said the live storage in four reservoirs in the Cauvery basin is now at 46.7 TMCFT against their capacity of 104 TMCFT making the implementation difficult but "constitutionally, it is not possible to defy it (the Supreme Court's order)".

Officials confirmed that water was being let out since last midnight, shortly after the all-party meeting called by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

Siddaramaiah said the decision to obey the Supreme Court order has been taken with "a heavy heart".

The present live storage is 45 per cent against 104 TMCFT in the Krishnaraja Sagar, Harangi, Hemavathi and Kabini reservoirs, the officials pointed out.