Police detained members of Raitha Sangha and other organisations, who resorted to block the Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway, condemning the release of River Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu from the KRS dam, in Mandya on Tuesday. They were released later.
The farmers tried to enter the expressway at Induvalu in Mandya taluk, with bullock carts and tractors. However, the police intervened and detained the agitators. This led to heated exchange of words between the farmers and the police.
The posse of police was successful in stopping the agitators from disrupting vehicular movement on the expressway. Thus, the farmers stood on the service road and raised slogans against the state government and the Congress.
“The statement of Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, that let farmers petition to the Supreme Court, is childish. If the farmers should approach the Supreme Court, then why should there be a government in Karnataka? All the three parties - the Congress, the BJP and the JD(S) – have backstabbed the farmers over the River Cauvery issue, by releasing water,” they criticised.
“The government has failed to make an efficient presentation before the Supreme Court on the issue. No court has said to give water even if there are no rains. Hence, the government should bail out the farmers of the Cauvery basin, with the distress formula,” the protesters stressed.
Raitha Sangha district president Induvala Chandrashekar, secretary Manjesh Gowda and Sugarcane Growers’ Federation president Sathanuru Venugopal led the protest.
Published 22 August 2023, 22:29 IST