Farmers’ organisations staged demonstrations in different parts of Mysuru on Tuesday to protest the Supreme Court order, and KSRTC bus service to Bengaluru and Mandya was suspended while advocates boycotted court proceedings.
Advertisement
The court order triggered an immediate backlash with the farmers’ body, spearheading the stir, calling for a bandh on Tuesday in Mandya district.
“We also appeal to the IT and biotech industry to shut their offices on Friday and support our struggle, as its employees are also direct beneficiaries of the Cauvery river from where drinking water is supplied daily throughout the year”, an activist of the Kannada Rakshana Vedike (protection forum) told IANS here. Around 700 buses from Karnataka to Tamil Nadu and Kerala stopped plying on Tuesday, and a major highway in Karnataka was blocked during protests. “This is patently unjust and the Karnataka government must file a review petition in the Supreme Court against the decision”, said Mandya MLA MH Ambareesh.
Protesters urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah not to discharge water as the State is reeling under a severe drought. “The Karnataka government is to blame as it could not put the case of Karantaka farmers properly in the court”, a protesting farmer said.
“We have started releasing water from early today to Tamil Nadu as directed by the Supreme Court despite facing hardship”, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters here. “It is inevitable to comply with the Supreme Court order”.
Regular transport has been affected since the government has chose to cut as many as 700 buses plying to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. “We will obey the order”.
He said that some buses that belonged to Tamil Nadu State Road Transport Corporation have been sent back to Tamil Nadu with police protection.
Singh said that Karnataka requested the Cauvery Supervisory Committee headed by the Union water secretary to assess the ground-level situation, indicating he was pinning his hopes on the north-east monsoon kicking in within the next 15 days to a month, boosting the groundwater level, which the fact-finding mission could use to ensure a more equitable arrangement was put in place. He requested to farmers to maintain tranquillity and peace in the state and not cause any damage to public and private property of the state. Several incidents of violence have also been reported from the region.
Advertisement
Police sources said, around 250 people have been arrested as preventive measure in Mandya. Techies who had come to Tamil Nadu ahead of the long weekend found it hard to reach Bengaluru as TNSTC cancelled 40 buses.
