Mandya: Road traffic between Bangalore and Mysore was paralysed in Mandya for the second day on September 6, as the protest against release of 1.25 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu daily as directed by the Supreme Court was intensified in Mandya district in the Cauvery belt.

Farmers, students and others squatted on the main road and blocked the vehicular movement and also held up for more than 30 minutes two trains --Tippu Express bound for Bangalore and Shatabdi Express proceeding to Mysore from Chennai.

Rallying under the banner of the Committee for Protection of Mandya district farmers' interests, the protesters began a relay hunger strike led by its president G Madegowda, a former Lok Sabha member, and called for a Mandya district bandh on September 7.

Congress Lok Sabha member and Kannada film actor Ambareesh led a procession of the agitators and at a rally asked Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to immediately convene the Cauvery River Authority meeting and secure "justice" to Karnataka.

The Irrigation and Public Works Department offices were locked up by some protesters after asking the employees to vacate the premises, police said.

Madegowda said the farmers would not "tolerate" release of "even one drop of water" to Tamil Nadu, as the state itself was in "deep distress" following severe drought.

Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation buses for Mysore were suspended and vehicular movement was disrupted in some pockets of Mandya, the home district of Chief Minister S M Krishna. Keragod, Koppa and Killara also observed bandhs.

PTI