Davanagere: The Karnataka govt has put on hold the proposed release of an additional 1 tmcft of water from the Bhadra reservoir to the Bhadra Upper Canal Project following protests by farmers from the Bhadra command area, district minister SS Mallikarjun said on Monday.The decision came after farmers staged a demonstration outside the minister’s residence in Davanagere, opposing the govt’s move and alleging that preparations were underway to release water under police protection.Mallikarjun met the protesters and spoke to the chief minister and irrigation minister on the phone. He later announced that the release process had been halted for the time being. The chief minister, who is scheduled to visit Hiriyur on Nov 3, has invited the minister and a delegation of farmers for discussions on the issue.The protesting farmers demanded that no decision be taken without convening a meeting of the Irrigation Advisory Committee. They insisted that canal water be supplied continuously for 120 days to safeguard the summer crop in the command area.Farmer leader Tejaswi V Patel claimed that releasing 1 tmcft at this stage would severely impact tail-end farmers. He alleged that 3 tmcft had already been released under the guise of a trial run despite prevailing drought conditions and warned that there were plans to gradually deplete the reservoir.Before marching to the minister’s residence, farmers from Kariganur, Malebennur, Harihar, Channagiri and surrounding villages gathered near the Shamanur overbridge. They staged a sit-in after police stopped them with barricades.Mallikarjun told the protesters that he too, was a tail-end farmer and understood their concerns. He said he had always stood by farmers and agreed that a trial release during drought conditions was unnecessary.
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