Water stopped from KRS dam; agitators end protest in Karnataka's Mandya

After fortnight-long protests by various organisations against the release of Cauvery River water to Tamil Nadu from KRS dam, the authorities have stopped release of water, on Friday.

It may be mentioned that Mandya erupted into protests after the Congress-led State government released water from the KRS dam to Tamil Nadu. However, as the outflow into the river suspended on Friday, the agitators ended their protest in Mandya district.

As per the directions of the Cauvery Water Management Authority, 6,000 to 7,000 cusec of water was being released into the river to Tamil Nadu, triggering protests across the district, by various organisations.

The water level of the dam was 98.06 ft against the maximum level of 124.80 ft on Friday (September 8) morning. The authorities, who had reduced the outflow to 3,930 cusec on Friday morning, later stopped it. The outflow on Thursday evening was 6,160 cusec.

The affidavit filed by the State government explains, to the Supreme Court, that it may not be feasible to further release any water from the reservoirs in Karnataka, after September 12.

The protests have been withdrawn temporarily, as the water has been stopped to Tamil Nadu. A decision on the future course of action would be taken after the Supreme Court verdict on September 21, according to farmer leaders.

The Cauvery Neeravari Nigam (CNN) started releasing 1,700 cusec of water to canals on rotation basis from September 8 (Friday). It was increased to 3,500 cusec by Friday night, the authorities said.

In all, 35.53 TMC ft of water has been released to Tamil Nadu from July 7 to September 6. With the current water capacity of the dam, two rotations of water can be released to canals for agriculture. Later, it would be stored only for drinking purposes, according to CNN sources.

District in-charge and Agriculture Minister N Chaluvarayaswamy visited the Cauvery protest venue on Friday. "The government is committed to protect the farmers. All steps are being taken to argue the case before the Supreme Court," he assured. Later, the agitators ended the protest.