Protests erupted near the Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) reservoir in Karnataka’s Mandya district on Friday, as local farmers and Kannada organisations demonstrated against the Cauvery Water Management Authority’s (CWMA) instruction to release water to Tamil Nadu. The decision endorsed a recommendation from the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee to send 3,500 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu over a 15-day period. The directive comes despite strong resistance from Karnataka, where officials have highlighted severe drought conditions and a weak monsoon.
In response to the escalation, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar convened an all-party meeting on August 2 to address the state's options. Demonstrators from the Kannada Rakshana Vedike and several agrarian groups gathered near the dam, where some women protesters symbolically ate grass to voice their anger at the ruling, while others rolled on the tarmac in protest. Posters were issued against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, after which local police had to arrest some people in order to keep peace in the crowd.
According to some local activists, this notification was a disaster for the region’s agriculture, because Karnataka always gets an unfair deal in times of shortages. Protesters urged Shivakumar to hold his ground, offering cross-party support from the Kannada community, while calling on Tamil Nadu's leadership to recognise the practical scarcity on the ground before demanding allocations. Observers and farmers alike pressed for a stronger legal challenge before the Supreme Court.
Security across Mandya district was heavily stepped up in anticipation of further unrest. Mandya Superintendent of Police Shobha Rani VJ confirmed that around 1,500 officers — including two SPs, an Additional SP, nine DYSPs, 28 inspectors, and dozens of sub-inspectors — had been stationed alongside ten companies of the Karnataka State Reserve Police and eight District Armed Reserve units. Reinforcements were drawn from neighbouring districts, barricades erected at key points, and public access to Brindavan Gardens suspended for the day.
Discussions between Shivakumar and Vijay are slated for August 3, though it has not been confirmed whether the talks will happen in person or online. While Shivakumar invited his Tamil Nadu counterpart to inspect the Cauvery reservoir levels firsthand, farming groups in Tamil Nadu pushed back, suggesting that if Vijay travels to Karnataka, he should bring Shivakumar along to inspect the parched paddy fields in the Cauvery Delta.
Also read: K'taka directed to release 3500 cusecs of Cauvery Water to TN
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