Cauvery water row: Over 40k shops shut in Tamil Nadu to protest against Karnataka
The blockade, being held by Cauvery Delta Protection Movement and the farmers' union, was launched across 8 districts in Tamil Nadu.
Amid the ongoing protest over the sharing of Cauvery water in Karnataka, several trade unions in the neighbouring Tamil Nadu have called for a shutdown in the delta districts on Wednesday, demanding the intervention of the Centre to ensure that the Karnataka government release adequate water from the Cauvery to save Kuruvai paddy and begin Samba cultivation.
Read here: Cauvery water dispute: Pro-Kannada organisations to stage protest in Bengaluru
The blockade, being held by the Cauvery Delta Protection Movement and the farmers' union, was launched across 8 districts including Trichy, Tanjore, Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur, on Wednesday morning and will continue till Thursday.
As many as 40,000 commercial establishments and shops have put their shutters down in Thanjavur district while 12,000 shops have been closed in Nagapattinam as a sign of protest over the Cauvery water dispute. Only those for meeting the daily needs of the people have been opened in these districts.
The Tamil Nadu legislative assembly on Monday adopted an unanimous resolution urging the central government to direct Karnataka to release Cauvery river water as per the orders of the Cauvery Water Management Authority.
CM M K Stalin has said the state government opened the Mettur dam on June 12 for the Kuruvai (short-duration paddy) crop and at a time when farmers had taken up related farm work, Karnataka created an "artificial crisis" and did not release water from the river as per the apex court's directions.
The Cauvery Water Regulation Committee ordered Karnataka to ensure the release of 3,000 cusecs of Cauvery water at Biligundlu between September 28 and October 15. However, Karnataka had earlier refused to comply with the orders of the Cauvery board to share the waters with Tamil Nadu, citing severe drought in parts of the state.
Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar last week said that cumulative inflows into the reservoirs in the state's Cauvery basin were decreasing. Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government has accused its neighbour of lying to the nation about the supply of water.
Read here: Tamil Nadu passes resolution seeking Cauvery water as per SC ruling
The Karnataka government, meanwhile, has filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking a direction to CWMA to review its decisions on water release to Tamil Nadu.
The state governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have locked horns in a protracted tussle over the sharing of Cauvery water. The river is seen as a major source of sustenance for the people in the two states.
The Centre formed the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) on June 2, 1990, to adjudicate disputes between Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Puducherry with respect to their individual water-sharing capacities.
(With inputs from agencies)
