In the wake of the Supreme Court order on Tuesday asking Karnataka to release 6000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, Kannada organizations in Mandya staged demonstrations in which they ate mud.
Soon after the order, roadblock protests erupted in Mysuru and Mandya. The two districts have been the hotbed of the Cauvery agitation.
#CauveryIssue protests: pro-Kannada organisations protest by eating mud, in Mandya (Karnataka) pic.twitter.com/BFM3NfddOm
— ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016
According to reports, hundreds of protestors led by Cauvery Hitarakshana Samiti president G Madegowda at Visvesvaraya statue in Mandya, blocked the busy Bengaluru-Mysuru highway. They are also reported to have called for a jail bharo stir.
“Instead of asking to release water, the SC should have sent an expert committee to know the availability of water in Cauvery basin reservoirs,” Madegowda was quoted as saying by The New Indian Express.
State Sugarcane Growers Association president Kuruburu Shantakumar said in Mysuru that the SC order was a “death knell” to the state. He also urged the government to defy it.
Saying that the SC order was "unimplementable", Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah appealed to people to maintain peace.
He assured the people that the state government was committed to protect the interests of its people.
"We are waiting for the copy of the order of the Supreme Court. The (state) cabinet will take a view, meanwhile we will consult legal experts also," Siddaramaiah told reporters on Tuesday.
The state cabinet will meet on Wednesday morning and an all-party meeting is scheduled for Wednesday evening, reports say.