BENGALUR: Drought-stricken farmers in India’s southern state of Karnataka initiated a day-long strike on Friday to express their discontent over the sharing of water from the Cauvery River, which also traverses the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu.
In response to protests that began earlier in the week in the technology hub of Bengaluru, thousands of farmers and trade union members held rallies, prompting the police to call for calm and the closure of all schools and public spaces. This demonstration came in opposition to a Supreme Court ruling instructing the sharing of Cauvery River waters.
- Ramanujan, the leader of a farmers’ union in Karnataka, stated, “We will not permit the flow of water from our river into another state when our farmlands are suffering from drought.”
The dispute over sharing the waters of the Cauvery River, which millions of farmers rely on for irrigation in both states, has been a longstanding legal battle. In August, the Tamil Nadu government sought the Supreme Court’s intervention, while Karnataka argued that it had insufficient water in its reservoirs due to inadequate rainfall.
Street protests erupted this week following the court’s directive for Karnataka to release 5,000 cusecs (equivalent to 28 cubic liters per second) of river water to Tamil Nadu for a 15-day period this month.
Farmers Reject Cauvery Water Sharing Formula
Protesters in Bengaluru chanted slogans like “ours, ours, Cauvery is ours” and called for the participation of police and government officials in the protest.
Many people, including children from distressed districts, held signs with messages like “We will give our blood but not water.”
The government of Tamil Nadu contends that Karnataka has mismanaged the river and must curb excessive consumption of this shared resource.
The Cauvery River originates in the Karnataka region of Talakaveri and flows through Tamil Nadu before reaching the Bay of Bengal.
According to officials at an industry association in Karnataka, more than 60% of manufacturing plants observed the strike, incurring a cost of approximately four billion Indian rupees (over $48 million).
