Cauvery agitation enters 11th day

Mysore, Feb 15 (UNI) The agitation by farmers against the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal continued for the 11th day today in the Cauvery basin districts of Mandya, Mysore and Chamarajanagara.

The agitators continued to resort to road blockades in Mandya district on the Bangalore-Mysore highway, thus affecting vehicular movement. The KSRTC authorities have diverted buses to Bangalore via Mallavalli and Kanakapura routes. Thousands of students, from primary schools to college, participated in the agitation.

Farmers organisations organised blood donation camps at the silver jubilee park and the collected blood would be sent to Chennai blood bank with a message that the ''Karnataka people would give their blood, but not water at any cost''.

Meanwhile, the Cauvery Hitharakshana Samithi held a meeting of all the Members of Parliament from the State in Bangalore, under the chairmanship of Samithi President G Made Gowda.

Students of various colleges here boycotted classes, took out a procession and submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner. The religious heads of various mutts have decided to participate in the agitation with a massive rally on February 20, to be led by Siddaganga seer Shivakumara Swamy.

In Chamarajanagara, over 4,000 students from various colleges took out a procession, extending support to the agitation, while members of Kannada organisations garlanded chappals to an effigy of the Tribunal.

No untoward incident was reported in any part of the Cauvery basin districts, police said.

A Mangalore report said Lord Bahubali and Lord Manjunathaswamy at Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala would be specially anointed with the Cauvery water on March 18, to pray for the State's due share of the water.

The students of Dharmasthala Group of Educational institutions, accompanied by some MLAs from the district, would bring water from the river for the Mahamastakabhisheka of Lord Bahubali with 504 'kalashas' (pots) and of Lord Manjunathaswamy, the presiding deity of Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala, its Dharmadhikari D Veerendra Heggade told newspersons last evening.

UNI