G. Made Gowda, president of the Mandya Zilla Raitha Hitharakshna Samiti, on Tuesday said that he would not object if Karnataka releases water to Tamil Nadu from Karnataka reservoirs.
Reacting to Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s decision on Tuesday to release water to the neighbouring State, Mr. Gowda told presspersons here, “There is nothing wrong in releasing water to Tamil Nadu as reservoirs of the Cauvery basin in Karnataka are receiving good quantum of water owing to copious rains.”
However, the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha criticised Mr. Kumaraswamy for taking an ‘anti-farmer’ decision, and Mr. Gowda for supporting it.
Currently, water is being released only to the Visvesvaraya canal. The government is yet to decide on discharging water to other canals. Crops on around 60,000 hectares of land are withering, Shambhunahalli Suresh, president, Mandya district KRRS, told The Hindu. The State government should take such decisions only after announcing crop patterns for Cauvery basin farmers in Karnataka, and releasing water to all other canals, he said.