Cauvery water dispute: 48-hour state-wide ‘rail roko’ protest in Tamil Nadu; DMK’s MK Stalin leads agitation

Chennai: The DMK on Monday joined the 48-hour state-wide ‘rail roko’ protest called by a farmer’s federation demanding centre government’s intervention in setting up of the Cauvery Management Board to settle the ongoing water dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
DMK party treasurer and leader of Opposition MK Stalin, who led a procession at Perambur was detained and later released by the Chennai police.
Scores of political workers belonging to DMK, the Left parties and MDMK among others staged a ‘rail roko’ at Thanjavur and Cuddalore, and were detained. DMK has asked its functionaries and cadres to participate in the protest.
Protests were also seen near or outside several government establishments including railway station in Chennai.
“The quantity of water cleared by the Supreme Court for Tamil Nadu is inadequate. Also, BJP is playing politics on Cauvery water over upcoming Karnataka Assembly polls,” a DMK leader told ‘News18’.
The protestors raised slogans against the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of ‘betraying the interests of Tamil Nadu’. Furthermore, they condemned the Centre for not taking interest in setting up the Cauvery Management Board immediately on the grounds that the matter falls into the domain of the Parliament.
A farmer’s federation who called the two-day ‘Rail Roko’ agitation, urged the Centre to take a stand to constitute the Cauvery Management Board immediately.
The protests come days after a high-level technical team, set up by the Supreme Court, completed its inspection of Cauvery basin region in Tamil Nadu to assess the situation in the state.
The GS Jha-led team had interacted with the PWD officials and delta farmers in Thanjavur Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur.
Farmers in Tiruchirapalli and delta regions told the team that samba crops will be damaged if water is not released into Cauvery by Karnataka.
The team, which also inspected the Cauvery basin in Karnataka, is set to submit its report in the apex court today.
The apex court had set up the team while hearing a petition by Tamil Nadu government seeking release of Cauvery water by Karnataka.
The case filed by Tamil Nadu regarding Cauvery river water sharing will come up for hearing before the top court on Tuesday.