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Farmers lay siege to Kabini, KRS reservoirs

Thousands of Karnataka farmers on Saturday laid siege to the Kabini and Krishna Raja Sagar reservoirs to ensure that no water was released for Tamil Nadu.

The Supreme Court had on Friday asked the Karnataka government to release 9000 cusecs [0.8 thousand million cubic feet] of water as per the directive of the Cauvery River Authority.

Though the state government had assured the farmers that it would protect their interests, the Cauvery Action Committee observed a 'black day' by staging demonstrations at the two reservoirs, located in Chamarajanagar and Mandya districts of old Mysore region.

CAC president Harshkumar Gowda said in Mysore that the farmers would continue to camp at the two reservoirs to maintain pressure on the state government.

"The farmers have also taken their utensils and essential commodities to cook food and stay in tents," he said.

"Chief Minister S M Krishna should remain firm and uphold his promise made to the affected farmers. Or else, he should resign," Gowda said.

Meanwhile, the state government has decided to scale down the upcoming Dussehra celebrations in view of the ongoing crisis.

State Information Minister Kagodu Thimmappa told rediff.com in Bangalore that Rs 8 million, which had been earmarked for celebrations, would now be utilised for drought relief work.

"We will confine Dussehra to pujas and rituals. There will not be any pomp or pageantry this time," Thimmappa said.

According to police officials, tense situation prevailed in four southern districts of the state throughout Friday, with rail and road services remaining suspended.

Sporadic violence, protest marches, and road blockades were reported from many towns in Mandya, Mysore, Hassan, and Chamarajanagar districts.

Due to disruption of vehicular movement between Bangalore and Mysore, thousands of people were stranded and commuters had a tough time reaching their destinations.

With miscreants removing sleepers and fishplates from railway tracks near Mandya and Maddur on the Bangalore-Mysore route, the Southern Railway was thinking of cancelling train services on the route on Sunday.

Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation sources disclosed that bus services would resume on Sunday depending on the law and order situation and as per the advice of the police authorities.

Cauvery Water Dispute: The Complete Coverage

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