The story so far: On September 21, the Supreme Court asked Karnataka to continue releasing 5,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs) of water from the Cauvery river to Tamil Nadu for 15 days, in line with decisions of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) and the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA). This has evoked a strong reaction from certain sections of Karnataka, an upper riparian State.
How has the public reacted?
On September 22, the police arrested activists of the Federation of Karnataka Farmers’ Associations in Mysuru as they tried to barge into the Mysuru Zilla Panchayat premises to gherao Urban Development Minister Byrathi Suresh. The next day, several shops and business establishments remained closed in Mandya. A coalition of farmers and Kannada organisations have called for a bandh in Bengaluru on September 26, where the CWRC is scheduled to meet and review the situation of water availability and release.
