Bangalore: In a sudden move, Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna would embark on a
week-long padayatra from Bangalore on October 7 in an effort to reach out to the
farmers of the Cauvery basin and to take them into confidence in the wake of the
ongoing Cauvery crisis, official sources said.
Setting off from Bangalore, Krishna, accompanied by several of his ministerial
colleagues, would cover about 20 km on foot every day during the yatra, that would
take him to the KRS and Kabini reservoirs, the sources said.
Krishna would trek through Bidadi, Ramnagar, Chennapatna, Maddur, Mandya, Gadaganur,
Palahalli and Mysore during the mission, that would end on October 15, they said.
Mandya, the home district of Krishna, has been witnessing severe protests for the
last nearly five weeks against release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, with road
traffic being crippled.
Mysore district, where a farmer committed suicide by jumping into the Kabini,
following which the state had suspended release of water to Tamil Nadu, has also
been hit by protests.
Protests in Mandya have taken a much more virulent form since October 4, when the
Supreme Court asked Karnataka to release 9,000 CUSECS daily to Tamil Nadu, with
angry agitators even attempting to set fire to the engine of the Delhi-bound Swarna
Jayanthi Express on October 4 and removing the fish plates and sleepers on Bangalore-
Mysore broadgauge line on October 5.
PTI
