Karnataka has started to release water from its reservoirs to Tamil Nadu in compliance with the directives issued by the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), reported PTI quoting official sources as saying. Karnataka government was directed by the CWMA to ensure that 5,000 cusecs (cubic feet per second) of water reaches Biligundlu in Tamil Nadu everyday for the next fortnight up to September 12. Earlier the committee had asked Karnataka to release 10,000 cusecs of water but the state appealed against the verdict arguing that there was inadequate rainfall in the catchment areas of Cauvery basin.
Taking the concerns into consideration, the committee ordered the release of 5,000 cusecs of water.
The water was released from Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) dam and Kabini reservoir in Mysuru, the report added quoting sources.
The decision has been met with resistance from various farmers’s organisations that staged protests against the release of water from KRS dam and Kabini reservoir.
Farmers held overnight protests in Mandya and Srirangapatna in the Cauvery belt.
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On Tuesday also, the farmers held a sit-in protest blindfolding themselves in front of the Cauvery Irrigation Corporation office at the main gate of the KRS dam in Mandya, as per an ANI report. The farmers demand to stop the release of water to Tamil Nadu immediately citing scarcity of water.
The farmers alleged that the state government does not care about the farmers.
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have been at loggerheads with each other over the sharing of Cauvery river water for a long time now.
On Friday, the Supreme Court refrained from passing any order on the Tamil Nadu government's plea on the release of Cauvery water, saying it does not possess any expertise on this issue and sought a report from the Cauvery Water Management Authority on the quantum of release made by Karnataka.