MANDYA: Kodishetty Pura and Induvalu villages in Mandya which witnessed violent protests during Cauvery stir earlier, are now back to farming after the Friday’s Supreme Court verdict.
Villagers were praying for a favourable order which would help nourish their livelihood. As news about the SC verdict spread like wild fire, people from all age groups took to the streets for celebrations.
Many farmers admitted that they would have launched aggressive protests, had the SC verdict gone against the interest of the state. People were glued to television sets to know latest news and watch debates, discussions and details of the judgment on Friday.
Sources said villagers came to the panchayat library on the Mariyamma temple premises on Saturday morning to know about SC verdict details. “I saw many villagers reading newspapers to know details about the verdict. God tested us with successive droughts and blessed us in the form of the SC verdict,” said Venkat Shetty, a marginal farmer.
“The successive droughts have forced me to grow beans and I used water from a neighbour’s borewell. I would have grown sugarcane, had I known that the SC verdict would come in Karnataka’s favour,” he said.
However, he said he will try sugarcane next year hoping that the water sharing dispute will end on a good note between riparian states. “I had a second thought on transplanting paddy fearing that we would be denied water by officials. Today, I came back to the field at 5 am with labourers to complete transplantation,” said Kari Gowda, a farmer from Kodishetty Pura.
“Cauvery is so important to Mandya. Even my son, a class 9 student, told me about highlights of the judgment. I can see that it has instilled a lot of confidence and raised hopes among farmers who were in debt,” he said. The celebrations saw a rise in sales and roaring business in hotels and dhabas and many people went to towns and highways to share their joy with friends. “I had a few drinks with my friends after a long time. This will be a different Ugadi as people will celebrate it with more joy and fun as they are relieved a lot,” said Cauvery Hitarakshana Samiti president G Madegowda. He along with fellow villagers relaxed at a tea shop and read out reports on the judgment in news papers. Mangalamma, a labourer, says she can earn `500 per day for the next couple of months.
“It was difficult to get jobs in the past two years affecting our livelihood. Thank God that good days are back that makes us earn some money during transplantation and harvest. It will help us repay loans borrowed from self help groups,” she said.
A day after the verdict, tillers and tractors are in demand in villages, hoping that officials will release water for one crop. Dhaba owners, hoteliers and shop keepers on the Mysuru-Benglauru highway are also a happy lot as they feared that a verdict against the state would have affected their business. Manoj said they were into debts last year due to Cauvery protests as they could not pay rents for four months. The favourable verdict brought cheers among people and will bring good business in the coming days, he added.
Good news for commuters
Mysuru: The favourable SC verdict in Cauvery issue is a good news for commuters travelling between Bengaluru and Mysuru. Any unfavourable verdict could have spoiled travel plans of many people and tour operators. The last year’s Cauvery stir had hit the tourist flow to Mysuru during Dasara, New Year and summer vacations. The police had a tough time and vehicles were diverted via Malavalli-Kanakpura, Srirangapatna-Nagamangala-Tumakuru to reach Bengaluru.
The lack of bypass road near Mandya, Mysuru and Channapatna gave no much option to tourists and they faced the heat of protests. Tamil Nadu registration vehicles stayed off the roads and the protest brought inter-state transport to a halt on many occasions. Lorry owners had also stopped the booking of goods to Tamil Nadu. It has also made life miserable for Tamil origin people living in Mandya district and other border areas. The stir also hit the tourist flow to Brindavan Gardens and Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary as it was closed on many occasions for security reasons. Sudhakar, a leading hotelier, said the verdict is a great relief to more than 400 hotels on the highway.
Take up Mekedatu project: farmers
Mandya: Raitha Hitharakshana Samithi has urged the state government to take up Mekedatu irrigation project to store additional water allocated to the state by the Supreme Court. Presiding over a meeting, former MP and samithi president G Made Gowda said the the credit for the favourable verdict should go to the farmers’ movement for Cauvery water.
He thanked the state government, the chief minister, ministers and the state’s legal team for the SC verdict . MP C S Puttaraju said the state government should call an all-party meeting and ensure that the Cauvery monitoring committee is not set up. He appealed to all MPs to join hands with former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda to bring pressure on the Union government in this connection.