Pro-Kannada organisations staged protests in Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka on Wednesday against the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee's (CWRC)
direction to release 3,500 cusecs of Cauvery water daily to neighbouring Tamil Nadu for 15 days. The protesters said Karnataka was facing water shortages and argued that the state could not spare "even a drop" of water amid concerns over drinking water availability, agriculture and livestock. Sporadic demonstrations were also reported from Mysuru, Mandya and Ramanagara, with activists warning that the agitation could intensify if the state government went ahead with the water release. Members of a faction of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV), led by its president Shivarame Gowda, along with other pro-Kannada groups led by Sa Ra Govindu, held a protest near the Kuvempu statue in Bengaluru's Malleswaram. Carrying empty pots on their heads, demonstrators raised slogans against the CWRC order. Police deployed barricades and BMTC buses at the protest site and detained several activists before shifting them from the venue. Calling the CWRC directive an "unscientific order", Sa Ra Govindu said Karnataka was already struggling with water availability. "It has been nearly two months since the monsoon season began, yet not a single drop of water has flowed into the KRS dam. Today, people are struggling even for drinking water. There is no water for livestock or agriculture," he said. Questioning the order to release water to Tamil Nadu, Govindu said, "directing Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs of water every day for 15 days amounts to about 4.5 TMC of water. Where are we supposed to bring this water from." He further said that releasing Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu was not possible under the current circumstances. "We stand with the farmers of Mandya. I appeal to all Kannadigas across Karnataka to condemn this unscientific order," Govindu said. KRV president Shivarame Gowda also criticised the CWRC directive, alleging that Karnataka had repeatedly faced unfair treatment in the long-running Cauvery water dispute. "Without understanding the ground realities, they have delivered an unscientific order. We, the people of Karnataka and our farmers, condemn this decision," he said, urging the state government to safeguard the interests of farmers. The protests come amid renewed political tensions over the Cauvery water-sharing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The opposition BJP has targeted the Congress-led Karnataka government over its handling of the issue. BJP state president BY Vijayendra alleged that the lawyers representing Karnataka before the CWRC failed to present complete details about the state's water availability. Speaking to reporters in Shivamogga, Vijayendra said farmers in the Cauvery basin were facing distress due to inadequate rainfall. He also alleged that the state government had released water to Tamil Nadu even before the CWRC issued its latest directive.
