Road and rail traffic remained hit between Bangalore and Mysore for the second day on Monday as protests over the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu escalated in the river basin districts.
Thousands of people were left stranded, thus affecting attendance in government offices in the region.
In the Cauvery basin, thousands of people took to the streets to exert pressure on the government to stop further flow of water to Tamil Nadu and courted arrest in view of a jail bharo call given by Cauvery Raita Hitarakshana Samiti president G Made Gowda.
Actor Ambarish also took part in the protests in Mandya.
More than 200 Karnataka Rakshana Vedike activists, led by its president Narayana Gowda, were arrested while they tried to storm the Krishnaraja Sagar dam.
The Karnataka- Tamil Nadu border was blocked from all four sides at Chamarajanagar.
Roadblocks were staged in Srirangapatna, Mandya, Maddur, K R Pet and elsewhere. Advocates in Srirangapatna and Maddur abstained from court proceedings to express solidarity with the farmers. Journalists also joined the stir in Mandya.
At Gejjalagere near Maddur, farmers stopped the Mayiladuthurai Express and blocked the tracks. Four more trains were stopped at different places. This forced the railway authorities to cancel ten trains between Bangalore and Mysore. The frequency of government buses from Mysore to Bangalore was brought down. The buses bypassed parts of the Bangalore-Mysore highway due to roadblocks leading to further delays.
Schools/ colleges were closed as a precautionary measure.
In Mysore, protests involving farmers organisations, students, milk unions and others took place at various parts of the district. Kannada Mysore Vedike activists mocked the Chief Minister and MPs of the Cauvery basin for their ‘failure’ to safeguard the interests of the state.
Mysore-Chamarajanagar District Milk Federation Association members took out a march with milk vans spilling red coloured water on the roads to indicate they are ready to shed their blood, but not water
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