Cauvery row: Protesting farmers enter river; 3 attempt suicide, some fall ill

Mandya: Pro-Kannada women and farmers' wings formed a human chain on Saturday in protest in Karnataka's Mandya region over the Cauvery water issue. Protesting farmers entered into the flowing waters up to the waist-level in Srirangapatna near Mandya during which some of them fell ill.

It is also reported that three farmers attempted to commit suicide by jumping into Cauvery river in Mandya. However, they were later rescued.

Meanwhile, one of the spearheads of Kannada activism, Vatal Nagaraj on Saturday said that he will participate in 'Rail-roko' protest- which would be carried out against the Supreme Court's directive of releasing the Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu -on September 15 from 6 am to 6 pm in Karnataka.

Activists of pro-Kannada group Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, have been resorting to rail-roko in Belagavi and Bengaluru.

Vehicular movement between various parts of the state was crippled as well as the highway was blocked at several places in Mandya district, the epicentre of the stir.

Business establishments, including hotels, functioned normally while Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation buses are plying buses in rural parts of Mandya district. Karnataka Water Resources Minister M B Patil today said the state would submit an appeal to the Cauvery Supervisory Committee against Tamil Nadu's demand for release of more Cauvery water.

“Tamil Nadu has already approached the supervisory committee asking for more Cauvery water... we will be submitting the counter appeal to the panel... explaining the hardships and difficulties being faced by the people due to the Supreme Court order to release water," Patil told reporters in New Delhi.

Tamil Nadu government had approached the Committee on September seven with its demand for more water. Patil, along with his legal team and officials, held deliberations with Karnataka Counsel Fali S Nariman in Delhi.

The Minister said the state had already written to the panel, informing it about the difficulties and problems faced by the people due to the Supreme Court's direction.

He said the state would also apprise the panel about the ground realities prevalent in the Cauvery basin, Patil said.

The Supreme Court had on September 5 directed Karnataka government to release 15,000 cusecs to Tamil Nadu for the next 10 days to meet the irrigation requirement for Samba paddy crop.