Mahadayi River row: Farmers to stage dharna in Bengaluru

Hubballi: Disappointed by the Mahadayi tribunal’s refusal to release the water sought by Karnataka in its interim order,  farmers are now pinning their hopes on the all-party meeting in Bengaluru on Sunday to find a way of resolving the dispute to their advantage.

Keeping up the pressure on the government, farmers from Dharwad district will stage a dharna before the Vidhana Soudha where Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will discuss the future course of action on the dispute with  opposition parties.

The farmers led by Dharwad High Court Bar Association president B D Hiremath are hoping for an amicable solution through negotiation outside the purview of the tribunal.

"It will be a wasted exercise if the state government takes a delegation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi again seeking his intervention in the dispute. Instead leaders of both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party should persuade their national presidents to put pressure on the ruling and Opposition leaders in Goa to concede Karnataka’s demand for water,” Mr Hiremath said.

Besides demanding compensation for the women and elderly ,who were allegedly beaten by policemen in Yamanur village, the farmers also want  the immediate release of those arrested for the violence during the recent Mahadayi stir, contending that the authorities have put innocent people behind bars while letting the real culprits go.