The ‘peaceful’ Cauvery movement took a violent turn on Wednesday with protesters resorting to stone-throwing, leaving many injured. Around 20,000 protesters assembled at the north gate of Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) reservoir to lay siege and stop further release of water to Tamil Nadu. However, the State government did not budge and Cauvery River Protection Committee chairman G. Madegowda announced fast-unto-death stir from Thursday.
Tension gripped KRS site for nearly five hours, but the day passed without loss of property or life. On instructions from the CM’s office not to aggravate the situation by force, police restrained themselves despite the crowds hurling stones at them. Till 11.30 am on Wednesday, there were hardly 300 protesters, but within the next hour, the situation changed. Around 12.30 pm, the protesters defied prohibitory orders clamped around a 1-km radius of KRS dam and came in thousands in buses and trucks from Pandavapura, K.R. Pet, Srirangapatna, Mandya, Maddur and Malavalli. The 2 km stretch between the north gate and KRS bridge was packed with agitators.
Sensing trouble, Mandya Deputy Commissioner B.N. Krishnaiah invited Cauvery River Protection Committee chairman Mr G. Madegowda for talks at 1 pm. Mr Madegowda initially set a deadline of 3 pm to stop the water and later extended it till 6 pm. The protesters refused to accept the wait-and-watch approach and threw barricades into the adjacent canal and attempted to gain entry into the dam. In the melee, the 85-year-old Mr Madegowda felt suffocated and was shifted to an ambulance.
Conciliatory attempts by other leaders like Mandya MP N. Cheluvarayaswamy, Srirangapatna MLA A.B. Ramesh Bandisiddegowda, Pandavapura MLA C.S. Puttaraju, Mandya MLA M. Srinivas, ex-minister M.S. Atmananda and ex-MLA L.R. Shivaramegowda went in vain.