Bid to lay siege to KRS foiled; farmers held

Police took hundreds of farmers into custody for trying to lay a siege to the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) dam, on Friday, demanding the release of water into canals.

Thousands of farmers and members of Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene have been staging a protest since a week, demanding water to save their crops. The farmer leaders had warned of laying a siege to the KRS dam, if the chief minister did not direct the Cauvery Neeravari Nigam officials to release water by 11 am on Friday. Accordingly, the activists of Raitha Sangha, joined by farmers, took out a protest march to the KRS dam, at 11.30 am.

The rally passed through the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway, Tubinakere, Induvalu, Chikkabyadarahali, Pandavapura, Harohalli, Seethapura Gate, Katteri and reached KRS. They staged a protest in front of the Cauvery Neeravari Nigam office and southern gate for a while.

When the Nigam engineers explained that it is not possible to release water without the permission of the Cauvery Water Monitoring Authority (CWMA), the farmers resorted to lay a siege to the dam. Police intervened and took them into custody.

Agitators lambast CM

The protesters vent their ire against Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy for asking them to protest in front of the CWMA. “Why do we need the CM, if we have to protest in front of the authority. There are instances of water being released even when the water level had gone down to 60 feet. Now, the water level stands at 79 feet. The authority has never barred us from using the available water,” they alleged.

Raitha Sangha president Badagalapura Nagendra said, “Kumaraswamy is taking revenge for his son’s defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. He (CM) had directed release of water during the Lok Sabha elections. But, now, he passes the buck to CWMA. All the seven JD(S) MLAs and three MLCs of the district are useless,” he charged.

Civil disobedience

Raitha Sangha district president Shambunahalli Suresh said, “The government has failed to bail us out of the crisis. Instead, it is trying
to stifle our voice using police.

“We will intensify protest by staging ‘kanoonu bangha chaluvali ’ (civil disobedience) from Saturday.

The highways would be blocked and the government offices will not be allowed to function, he warned.