BJP flays govt decision not to release Cauvery water for agriculture

Police foil agitators' bid to enter Krishnaraja Sagar dam

Scores of BJP workers were detained and released later, for protesting against the state government and trying to barge into the premises of the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) dam in the taluk on Saturday.

The BJP members condemned the Cabinet decision not to release water into canals for agriculture as the storage in the KRS dam was not sufficient. Urging the government to stop the release of water to Tamil Nadu, they sought release of water on ‘on and off’ basis, on rotation, for at least one crop, as the farmers were suffering due to crop loss for the past three years.

The party workers of Srirangapatna and Pandavapura taluk units gathered near the main entrance of the KRS dam and staged a dharna. When they tried to enter the barricaded premises of the main entrance, the police personnel rushed to stop them, resulting in a heated exchange of words. Later, the agitators were bundled into police vans and detained on the premises of the Karnataka Engineering Research Centre (KERC) near the helipad, for sometime.

District BJP president Kadenahalli Nagannagowda said, the state government is deceiving the people of Karnataka by releasing water to Tamil Nadu even before the KRS dam is filled. “The Cabinet decision not to release water to farmlands at a time when over a hundred farmers have committed suicide, due to crop failure, is inhuman,” he said.

Srirangapatna taluk BJP president T Sridhar said, the officials say that they are releasing water to TN following the orders of Supreme Court. “If water to TN is not stopped, the protests will be intensified,” he said.