Opposing the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee’s (CWRC) direction to release 3,500 cusecs of the Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu daily for 15 days, president of Federation of Karnataka Farmers’ Organisations Kurubur Shanthakumar has urged the State government to persuade the Cauvery Management Authority (CWMA) for a reconsideration of the order based on “distress formula”.

In a statement here on Tuesday, Mr. Shanthakumar said it is neither feasible for the Karnataka government nor for the farmers of the Cauvery basin to implement the CWRC’s order in the present circumstances.

The major reservoirs in the Cauvery basin — Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS), Kabini, Harangi, and Hemavati — currently hold only enough water to meet the State’s drinking water requirements and to protect standing crops.

Ensuring drinking water supply to cities and towns such as Bengaluru, Mysuru, and Mandya, as well as villages that depend on the Cauvery, is the State’s foremost responsibility, he said.

With the Cauvery catchment areas receiving only about 50% of the expected rainfall, the inflows into the reservoirs had reduced significantly.

While Karnataka has always respected the orders of the Supreme Court and the CWMA, Mr. Shanthakumar said it is not possible to release water by sacrificing the drinking water needs of the people of the State and the interests of farmers.

Protests in Mandya

Meanwhile, groups of activists from Kannada organisations and farmers’ outfits staged a demonstration at Sanjay Circle in Mandya on Tuesday opposing any move to release the Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. The protesting groups blocked the old Bengaluru-Mysuru highway for some time.

The Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS), which has also condemned the CWRC direction as “unscientific”, will be staging a protest in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s bust outside the law court complex in Mysuru on Wednesday.

KRRS leader Badagalapura Nagendra, in a statement here, has appealed to the State government to appeal against the CWRC direction. Except for the Harangi reservoir, all dams in the Cauvery basin did not have sufficient water even for drinking, he said.

Published - July 28, 2026 07:45 pm IST