Bangalore: BJP rebel and former Karnataka CM BS Yeddyurappa has joined the Cauvery agitation. Launching an agitation against the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, Yeddyurappa declared that he is supporting the protest in his personal capacity.
He attacked his own party government in the state for the current situation, saying that it was busy conducting postmortem of the case than fighting it in the apex court. He said that he would be taking part in Saturday's Karnataka bandh against the release of water.
Karnataka has erupted in protests ever since the Supreme Court gave a directive to the state government to release 9,000 cusecs of water from the Cauvery to its neighbouring state that is facing a shortage of irrigation water due to rainfall deficit. Farmers groups in Mandya, the epicentre of the protests, have said it will affect their crops.
Tamil Nadu had filed a plea with the apex court seeking a directive to the Karnataka government to release water from the Cauvery to the state. Farmers in Karnataka, however, remain opposed to it. They have been blocking the Mysore-Bangalore highway since Sunday after the apex court passed the order. Over 50 people were arrested, while several trains connecting Bangalore with Mysore were hit.
On Wednesday, over 5,000 Karnataka activists and farmer groups laid siege to the Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) Dam. The government enforced prohibitory orders in a 1 km radius around the dam. Rapid Action Force companies were also deployed. Farmers, however, continued to throng the venue in protest.
Karnataka has already filed an appeal before the apex court seeking a modification of its order. It stated that it cannot release 9,000 cusecs of water every day till October 15 to Tamil Nadu. The appeal is likely to come up for hearing in the SC sometime next week.
The state government on Friday morning briefed a central team that has arrived to assess the ground realities. Chief Secretary SV Ranganath and senior officials of Water Resources and Agriculture Ministries explained to the four-member team on the water storage levels in reservoirs in the backdrop of deficient rainfall and drinking water requirements of Bangalore.
The four-member team later left for Mysore to study the situation in the Cauvery basin. They are slated to visit Krishna Raja Sagara dam and Hemavathi river besides aerial suvey of Kabini and Harangi rivers. Karnataka Rakshna Vedike is holding a procession from national college grounds to Freedom Park.
The Janata Dal is also organising a separate procession in the city to protest the CRA ruling. The protests, largely confined to Cauvery basin districts so far, are likely to lead to traffic snarls in parts of Bangalore on Friday, police warned.
(With additional information from PTI)
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