Mandya, Sep 6 (PTI) : Agitated farmers and activists belonging to pro-Kannada outfits today blocked Bengaluru-Mysuru Highway as protests intensified in the wake of the Supreme Court directive to the state to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

Mandya district, the nucleus of Cauvery politics, saw a bandh with protesters holding road blockades and dharnas at several places, as hundreds of security personnel, including Central forces, were deployed in the Cauvery belt to maintain law and order.

Prohibitory orders have been clamped around Krishnarajasagar Dam and entry of visitors to it prohibited till September nine, as the Cauvery row hotted up after the Supreme Court direction to Karnataka to release 15,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for the next 10 days to address the plight of the farmers there.

Protesters also mobbed and ransacked several government offices in Mandya forcing their shut down, while attendance at government offices remained thin, police said.

The Supreme Court's direction yesterday triggered an immediate backlash with the farmers' body spearheading the stir, calling for a bandh today in Mandya district.

Shops, hotels and other commercial establishments and theatres and hotels remained shut and schools and colleges declared a holiday in the district where state run and private buses are also not plying.

Protests are also being held in Mysuru and Hassan districts, fed by the Cauvery, demanding that Karnataka should not release water. Venting their anger, protesters burnt effigy of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa at several places.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is holding a meeting of senior Ministers, legal experts and officials, has also invited legislature floor leaders and MPs later today to discuss the further course of action.

Meanwhile, the government appealed to people not to resort to agitation and to maintain calm. "My appeal to the public is that don't resort to agitation...and keep calm and we will make all efforts to protect the interest of the farmers," Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T B Jayachandra told reporters in Bengaluru.

Jayachandra said people should maintain calm as it is an order by the Supreme Court and the government needs to go before the Cauvery supervisory committee and convince it.

"My appeal is be calm, and don't spoil any government property or anything because it is a Supreme Court order. We have to go before the Supervisory Committee and we want to try to convince (it) also," the Minister said.

Former Chief Minister and State BJP President B S Yeddiyurappa asked the government to file a petition countering the Supreme Court order. In Mandya city, Kannada Rakshna Vedike outfit activists held a bike rally and burnt the effigy of Jayalalitha.

G Madegowda, President of Cauvery Hita Rakshana Samithi, the body spearheading the agitation, criticised the chief minister and irrigation minister for their "irresponsible" behaviour over the Cauvery issue. He also called the district MLAs to resign enmasse to protest against the "injustice."

Earlier repor

Bengaluru: Protests in Karnataka over SC order to release Cauvery water

Bengaluru, Sep 6 (IANS): Hundreds of people, especially farmers on Monday staged protest demonstrations in the Mysuru region against the Supreme Court order to Karnataka for releasing 15,000 cusecs of water daily for 10 days to Tamil Nadu.

The protesters at Mandya, about 100km from here, blocked the vehicular traffic on the busy Bengaluru-Mysuru state highway by burning discarded tyres and effigies of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa and placing barricades at many places enroute.

About 100 farmers stood knee-deep in the Cauvery river at Srirangapatna near Mysuru, threatening to hold 'jal satyagraha' (agitation for water) to prevent the state government releasing water from the nearby Krishnaraja Sagar Reservoir (KRS), built across the river basin.

"We will not allow the state government to release water at any cost from the half-empty reservoirs as we don't have enough water for our fields and drinking water," said Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha leader Nanjungowda at Mandya.

Farmers, traders, students and political leaders have called for a shut down in Mandya district on Tuesday in protest against the apex court order, which will deplete the water level in the KRS further, affecting supply to fields and taps.

"At the rate of 15,000 cusecs daily, if the state has to release 10.3 tmcft of water for 10 days, there will not be enough water in the river to meet even the drinking water needs of Bengaluru, Mandya and Mysuru, as reservoirs in the catchment areas are half empty due to deficit monsoon," farmers' leader Made Gowda told reporters at Mandya.

One thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) of water is equivalent to 28,317 million litres of water. A cusec, which is a measure of flow rate of water per second, is equivalent to a flow of 28.317 litres per second.

According to the state water resources department, due to deficient rainfall during the southwest monsoon this year, the four reservoirs in the Cauvery basin have only 55 per cent of the water.

"As against the combined 104 tmcft storage in the river basin, the KRS, Kabini, Hemavat and Harangi reservoirs have only 51 tmcft of water due to insufficient rains in August," an irrigation department told IANS here.

The farmers' organisation urged the state government to file a review petition in the Supreme Court against its Monday order, and instead, send a fact-finding committee to assess the water levels in the reservoirs across the river basin.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has convened an all-party meeting here on Tuesday to discuss the apex court order.

"We are waiting for the copy of the Supreme Court order, which is expected to reach us by Tuesday morning. We will discuss the next course of action with our lawyers and legal advisors and apprise the other political parties, lawmakers and central ministers from the state," Siddaramaiah told reporters here.