BANGALORE: The Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (Puttannaiah) faction has decided to stage a protest in front of the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) reservoir condemning the state government’s decision to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Puttannaiah criticised the state government’s decision to release water from all the four reservoirs in the Cauvery basin, despite the region receiving below-normal rains.
He also charged that the government did not consult the Irrigation Consultation Committee before releasing the water. The authorities also did not take into confidence the elected representatives of the region, he said.
“Everyday the state government is releasing over two TMC of water to Tamil Nadu ignoring the state’s farmers,” he said.
Calling the move as irresponsible, Puttannaiah said, “Farmers of Mandya, Mysore, Chamarajanagar and other districts will not tolerate the government’s stand on the issue.”
He said that according to official sources, Tamil Nadu had sufficient water in its reservoirs to protect its ‘kuruvai’ crop.
He said over 20,000 cusecs of water is being released from Kabini, 13,500 cusecs from Hemavathy and 2,100 cusecs from Harangi to Tamil Nadu.
Inflow Up in Hemavathi Reservoir
Hassan: Water level in the Hemavathi reservoir in Gorur on Thursday stood at 2,886.30 ft against the maximum of 2,922 ft. The inflow was 13,172 cusecs and outflow 2,864 cusecs. The inflow is expected to increase to 15,000 cusecs due to heavy rain in the catchment area during the last four days. The reservoir has a capacity of 37 tmc ft.