Late on Saturday night, a worried government was bracing for trouble on Sunday as Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar quietly fell in line with the Cauvery River Authority’s order to the state to release 9,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs) of water to Tamil Nadu, something he could not admit to openly for fear of angering the farmers.
Highly-placed government sources in Bengaluru told Deccan Chronicle that the state “had ensured that more water reached the Mettur measuring station”, adding that nearly 7,000 cusecs of water was being released to the lower riparian state now, compared to 4,500 cusecs until a couple of days ago. Officials in Mysore said at around 11.30 pm, the Kabini reservoir gates were opened after the government imposed Section 144 in the area on Saturday evening.
Eight gates of the KRS dam, too, was opened up a little past midnight, leading to some tension as Melkote MLA C.S. Puttaraju and 40 other agitators who reached there were arrested. Sources said 2,000 cusecs of water would be let out each from Kabini and KRS. Officials said they expected law and order problems on Sunday as farmers’ leaders called the actions a “betrayal” and former MP Madegowda called a meeting on Sunday. Officials in Bengaluru said inflow into the Cauvery basin had increased due to rains in Wayanad and Bhagamandala, so the state could afford to release more water. Some 5,000 cusecs of water flowed in as Kodagu district, prime catchment area for KRS, received good rainfall on Saturday.