Even as farmers in Mandya district, especially those in the vicinity of the KRS dam, were hitting the streets defying the police, at the Kabini reservoir, it was the opposite.
Barring Raitha Sangha activists and members of the Kabini Raitha Hitarakshana Samiti led by Kurubur Shanthakumar, the locals seem wary about taking up cudgels for the cause.
None of the protesters arrested was a local, said farmers’ leader Shivaprasad. He and his friends, all members of the Raitha Sangha, travelled from their native in T Narasipur taluk to HD Kote to take part in the protest.
They managed to escape when they got wind of plans by the police to detain them. They were disappointed that the local farmers were not joining them in the protest. They say the Raitha Sangha was missing leaders of the likes of Prof M D Nanjunda Swamy (popular as MDN), who attracted farmers in large numbers.
What has compelled Shivaprasad and the others to travel from T Narasipur to the dam is that they benefit the most from the Kabini water, compared to HD Kote taluk. “Over one lakh acres of land in T Narasipur receives water from Kabini, when compared to a few thousands of acres in the surroundings of the Kabini dam.”
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