Leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal (Secular) have continued their protest in front of the Hemavati reservoir at Gorur near here demanding the release of water to the canals to address the drinking water crisis.
While the JD(S) workers, under the leadership of A.T. Ramaswamy, former MLA, began the dharna on Friday, the BJP workers began their protest under the party’s district president H. Yoga Ramesh on Saturday.
Both parties have announced that they will not withdraw their protests till their demand is met. They fear that the people of Hassan might lose the chance to use the water available in the reservoir at present if there was a Supreme Court direction to release water to Tamil Nadu. The protesters alleged that the State government was delaying the release only to benefit the neighbouring State. The protesters are of the opinion that the State could make use of the water available by filling up the tanks in the district before there was a court order was passed.
Hundreds of JD(S) workers in Kattaya Hobli joined the protest on Sunday. According to a communiqué from the party, former Prime Minister and national president of the party H.D. Deve Gowda would also join the protest in Gorur on Monday and try to persuade the State government to release water to the canals.