After almost 60 hours of seething demonstrations that have cut off the crucial highways and roads, protests in Karnataka are smaller and quieter today over the release of water from the Cauvery River to neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
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Though about 2,400 police personnel were deployed to maintain law and order, the angry protesters comprising farmers, traders and youth damaged the district office of the ruling Congress and attacked the state public works department office.
The beleaguered state government, however, expressed its inability to release more water as the four reservoirs across the river basin are half-empty due to a rainfall deficit during the southwest monsoon in August. He also said prolonged unrest would hurt the state’s IT sector, and noted that even the state BJP had asked his government not to implement the Supreme Court’s order.
Speaking to the media after a marathon three-hour meeting with leaders of all parties including MPs and MLAs, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, “It is constitutionally not possible to defy the order of the Apex Court”. Protests continued for the fourth consecutive day today in Mandya district in the Cauvery heartland and several parts of southern Karnataka.
“The government can not take shelter under the Supreme Court’s order”.
The Karnataka government on Tuesday chose to comply with the Supreme Court order to release 15,000 cusecs of water for 10 days to neighbouring state Tamil Nadu.
Bowing to the apex court’s Monday order, the state began releasing daily 15,000 cusecs since early Wednesday from Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) and Kabini reservoirs across the river basin for 10 days amid protests and demonstrations by farmers, traders and youth in the Mysuru region. Businessestablishments, schools and colleges, Government offices, banks inboth public sector and private, IT companies, APMC market and allother public enterprises were shut down for the day across the state.
Gowda also urged the government to file a review petition in the top court.
Some farmers and pro-Kannada activists staged a protest in front of the residence of Minister for Water Resources M.B. Patil and were detained by the police to be released later.
Regular transport has been affected since the government has chose to cut as many as 700 buses plying to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
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“We are waiting for the copy of the Supreme Court order”. She suggested Bengaluru would be in short supply of drinking water as result of Karnataka’s having to share more Cauvery water with its neighbour, and that Karnataka farmers already didn’t have enough water to drink or to irrigate their fields with.
