Mandya
Protesting against the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu from KRS dam, farmers’ organisations staged a protest by blocking the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the police detained the activists of the farmers’ union and arrested them.
Farmers near Induvala had decided to cook on the highway to protest against the state government’s decision to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. At around 11.30 am, the farmers marched through Induvalu village with bullock carts and tractors to the service road. Hundreds of farmers’ union activists were present at the event.
A war of words broke out between the farmers and the police. However, the farmers’ union activists did not yield to the police’s persuasion and raised slogans against the state government, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. More than 50 activists were detained and arrested by the Police when they tried to enter the barricade through bullock carts.
The state government, through the Police, tried to suppress us by blocking the highway and holding a peaceful protest against the release of water to Tamil Nadu. This is the anti-farmer policy of the state government. He urged the government to immediately stop the release of water from the dam and release the arrested farmers immediately.
Karnataka has released 80,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu. However, Tamil Nadu has filed a petition in the Supreme Court. Following this, another 11,000 cusecs of water was released to Tamil Nadu and the crops of farmers in the state were drying up due to lack of water. Only 2,000 cusecs of water has been released into the canals. This water is yet to reach the respective canals.
