Mandya: Mandya District Farmers’ Protection Committee has decided to intensify its agitation over the Cauvery water dispute following Supreme Court’s direction to Karnataka to comply with the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) order.At an emergency meeting held at Mandya Inspection Bungalow, farmer leaders, including Sunanda Jayaram, former MLA GB Shivakumar and Kannada Sena leader Manjunath, criticised the state govt and CWMA for failing to effectively present Karnataka’s drought situation before the Supreme Court. They said govt must safeguard the state’s interests while ensuring that Mandya’s farmers are not deprived of water.The committee announced that a massive protest would be organised in Mandya on Aug 24 if Supreme Court delivers an adverse order at its next hearing. The leaders also urged Karnataka MPs to raise the Cauvery issue in the Parliament and demanded that water resources minister N Cheluvarayaswamy take immediate action to protect the state’s interests.An expert consultation involving legal experts and hydrologists has been proposed for Aug 29, to discuss the distress-sharing formula and the long-pending Mekedatu reservoir project.Meanwhile, allegations of excessive release of Cauvery water from Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS) reservoir to Tamil Nadu have triggered anger among farmers in Mandya. Farmers alleged that water was being released under the pretext of meeting drinking water and canal requirements, despite low inflows into the reservoir. They pointed out that KRS outflow had risen to around 4,917 cusecs against an inflow of about 1,961 cusecs. The reservoir’s water level was 109.2 feet, against its full reservoir level of 124.8 feet, with storage of about 31 TMC compared to its total capacity of 49.4 TMC.Farmers contended that there was little demand for irrigation water as there were no standing crops in many areas and alleged that canal releases were ultimately joining the river system. They also cited the discharge from Kabini reservoir and claimed that the combined flow towards Tamil Nadu was exceeding the quantity stipulated under the prevailing order.The State govt has denied allegations of unauthorised or excessive releases. However, the issue has intensified political protests in Mandya. During a BJP demonstration near Visvesvaraya statue, activist Shivakumar Aradhya symbolically ate soil to highlight the plight of farmers.Protesters accused govt of prioritising water supply to Tamil Nadu while farmers in Karnataka were struggling for water and demanded an immediate review of all downstream releases.
