The Cauvery protests reached a peak on Sunday as the state started releasing 9,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs) of water to Tamil Nadu as per the directions of the Cauvery River Authority, which was reinforced by the Supreme Court.
Protests started even before sunrise on Sunday and hundreds of farmers blocked traffic on the busy Mysore-Bengaluru highway at all important intersections throughout the day. Fortunately, no untoward incidents were reported and the police kept a tight vigil over protesters. The entire Mandya district came to a halt as people observed a voluntary bandh. With traffic blocked at Maddur, Malavalli and Srirangapatna, the police were forced to diver traffic through Ramanagaram and Kanakapura routes.
Over 200 protesters, including Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha leader K.S. Puttanaiah, were detained by the police near KRS dam at Srirangapatna in Mandya district when they tried to lay siege to the dam asking authorities to immediately stop release of water to Tamil Nadu. They were later released.
Similarly, around 80 agitators, including farmer leader Badagalpur Nagendra, were detained near Kabini dam in H.D. Kote taluk of Mysore. They were later released in Mysore. Near Maddur, hundreds of protesters blocked the highway with bullock carts and cooked breakfast on the road as part of protest.
Cauvery River Protection Committee chairman G. Madegowda called for an emergency meeting on Monday and summoned all public representatives of Cauvery basin districts to decide the next course. Terming chief minister Jagadish Shettar’s decision to release water to Tamil Nadu at midnight a “cowardly act”, Mr Madegowda demanded that Mr Shettar should resign.