'Elaborate arrangements' in Mandya in view of Cauvery water protest: DIG

MANDYA: The Mandya police has made elaborate arrangements on the ground to make sure no untoward incident occurs during the strike called by activists and farmers in the district on Saturday on the Cauvery water sharing dispute.

"Bandh call was given by various organizations in Mandya with respect to the Cauvery water issue. On behalf of the police, we have made elaborate arrangements," Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Southern Range MB Boralingaiah told reporters.

The DIG said that the police have sufficient force on the ground to prevent any untoward situation. "We have sufficient force on the ground, we have Rapid Action Force, Karnataka State Armed Reserve Police Force, district armed reserve and civil officers and men sufficiently deployed at all the important points," he said.

Appealing to the protesters to keep calm, the DIG said, "I would like to appeal to the protesters to keep calm and not to damage any property and not to create any issues." Speaking on the strike called by farmers and pro-Kannada organizations in Mandya district, District Collector over the Cauvery water issue, Mandya District Collector Kumar said that the situation is peaceful and no untoward incident has taken place.

"The present situation is peaceful. No untoward incidents have been reported so far. We've taken all precautionary measures," the Collector said. The strike in Mandya was called by activists and farmers after the Supreme Court on Thursday refused to interfere with the direction of the Cauvery Water Management Authority to Karnataka that it releases 5000 cusecs of water daily to neighbouring Tamil Nadu for 15 days.

Due to the strike, most of the private and public vehicles were off the road and business establishments remained shut in the Mandya district on Saturday. HD Kumaraswamy accused the Congress government of having failed the people of the state on the issue.

"Cauvery water is our lifeline water. This year we didn't got proper rain. We are fighting for many years of cavery water. Everyday we are watching on TV, these protests for Cauvery water. There has been a Rs 30,000cr loss for our farmers as per government report. Government has failed on Cauvery water issue" he said.

Earlier on Friday, amid the Cauvery water-sharing row with Tamil Nadu, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that the government will safeguard the interests of the farmers of the state. Shivakumar also said that during the meeting held in the national capital on Friday, the Cabinet meeting decided to follow the court order regarding the Cauvery water distribution.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai, PS Narasimha and Prashant Kumar Mishra while refusing to interfere in the Cauvery water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu said both CWMA and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) are regularly meeting and monitoring the water requirements every 15 days. The court declined to entertain an application filed by the Tamil Nadu government to increase its current share of Cauvery water from 5,000 to 7,200 cusecs per day.

Tamil Nadu has sought fresh directions for the release of Cauvery River water from Karnataka, claiming that the neighbouring State had changed its stand, and had released a reduced quantum of water as against what was agreed upon earlier.