Fear of drought haunts farmers in dist, says MLA
DH News Service, Mandya, Jul 12 2017, 0:04 IST
MLA K S Puttannaiah has said that even though farmers are staging protests for the past 25 years, Cauvery river water continues to flow into Tamil Nadu and no amicable solution has been found for the problem.
Addressing reporters here on Tuesday, he said that the fear of drought has begun to haunt farmers of the district and across the state. “The Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) reservoir in the district has not reached its maximum level for three years now. The water level is yet to reach the 100 ft mark in the year 2017 but the officials have started releasing water to Tamil Nadu. The farmers’ struggle has not stopped and the protests and bandhs have not yielded any results,” he said.
“Siddaramaiah and Palaniswamy, chief ministers of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu respectively, should discuss the issue and arrive at an amicable solution. Prime Minister Narendra Modi should intervene and provide a platform for the discussion,” Puttannaiah said.
He pointed out that both the states have lost crores of rupees due to the protests and bandhs over the Cauvery issue. “If the apex court’s verdict is against the state, we are ready to fight for the cause but the problems have remained the same for decades. Hence, it is necessary to find a solution with the mindset that we all belong to the ‘Cauvery family’,” he said.
Water release
Puttannaiah said that as per the Supreme Court directive, 10 tmcft of water should be released in the month of June, 34 TMC ft in July and 50 TMC ft in August. But, the current water level in KRS dam is just 12 tmcft. How is it possible to follow the directive when the situation is bad in the state? he sought to know.
Sand issue
Puttannaiah complained that the police have been harassing farmers transporting sand in bullock carts. He suggested that they should be issued licenses by collecting a fee. If they do not stop harassing farmers, the farmers associations would stage a protest with bullock carts in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office, he warned.
Addressing reporters here on Tuesday, he said that the fear of drought has begun to haunt farmers of the district and across the state. “The Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) reservoir in the district has not reached its maximum level for three years now. The water level is yet to reach the 100 ft mark in the year 2017 but the officials have started releasing water to Tamil Nadu. The farmers’ struggle has not stopped and the protests and bandhs have not yielded any results,” he said.
“Siddaramaiah and Palaniswamy, chief ministers of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu respectively, should discuss the issue and arrive at an amicable solution. Prime Minister Narendra Modi should intervene and provide a platform for the discussion,” Puttannaiah said.
He pointed out that both the states have lost crores of rupees due to the protests and bandhs over the Cauvery issue. “If the apex court’s verdict is against the state, we are ready to fight for the cause but the problems have remained the same for decades. Hence, it is necessary to find a solution with the mindset that we all belong to the ‘Cauvery family’,” he said.
Water release
Puttannaiah said that as per the Supreme Court directive, 10 tmcft of water should be released in the month of June, 34 TMC ft in July and 50 TMC ft in August. But, the current water level in KRS dam is just 12 tmcft. How is it possible to follow the directive when the situation is bad in the state? he sought to know.
Sand issue
Puttannaiah complained that the police have been harassing farmers transporting sand in bullock carts. He suggested that they should be issued licenses by collecting a fee. If they do not stop harassing farmers, the farmers associations would stage a protest with bullock carts in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office, he warned.
