This has lead to massive protests by pro-Kannada groups and farmers in Karnataka.
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“Despite severe hardship faced by Karnataka, the state will release water as directed by the order of the Supreme Court”, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told the media after a three-hour long all-party meeting at the state secretariat here.
He blamed the Tamil Nadu government for attempting to resolve the issue through “unilateral action” rather than involving the political parties and the stakeholders, including farmers’ associations. But chemists are expected to be closed as are banks and restaurants. Attendance at government offices is also low as employees were informed that it was not “compulsory” to come to work today.
Sources said the Supervisory Committee would visit both the riparian states to assess the “ground realities” and can adjust the current release of water against future releases.
Meanwhile, police fired shots into the air and used batons to disperse protesters at one of the four dams on the Cauvery, the NDTV report said. Police officials said the injured have been moved to a local hospital for treatment.
Protesting farmers entered into the flowing waters upto the waist-level in Srirangapatna near Mandya during which some of them fell ill.
People are staging protests all across including at the border of the two states, and at some of the junctions of Bengaluru like Town Hall, JP Nagar and Manyata Tech Park, among others.
Pro-Kannada organisation activists perform the “final rites” of the Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalitha and Karnataka Water Resources Minister M B Patil in protest against the Supreme Court verdict on Cauvery water, in Bengaluru on Thursday. Protests and demonstrations were held across state in places like Ballari, Koppala, Chikkaballapura, Dharwad, Kolar, Chitradurga, Hassan among others. Broadcast of Tamil channels has been stopped.
The Chief Minister said it would be “difficult” for a Constitution-bound state to defy the Supreme Court order or to refuse release of water.
The neighbouring state would also be benefited by North-east monsoon rainfall in the Cauvery delta and also has better ground water position than Karnataka, they said.
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She expressed hope that the central government would ensure justice to Tamil Nadu by impressing upon Karnataka to honour the court’s judgment and release water.
