Farmers bury themselves in sand over Cauvery water dispute

Famers in Trichy, Tamil Nadu, partially buried themselves in the sand on the banks of the Cauvery River on Friday, demanding that the Central Government create the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) at the earliest.

The protest was led by farmer leader Ayyakannu who said, "The Supreme Court had ordered the Central government to create the Cauvery Management Board within six weeks. But the central government is behaving like an enemy of the farmers of Tamil Nadu by refusing to take any action".

"We have no choice but to die, and that is why we are protesting like this" he added.

On 16 February 2018, the Supreme Court had asked the Centre to form the CMB to implement a formula for sharing of water between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

In the ruling, the top court reduced Tamil Nadu's share in the Cauvery water to 177.25 thousand million cubic feet.

Political parties in Tamil Nadu have been protesting continuously demanding the formation of the Cauvery Management Board, including Tamil Nadu bandh on Wednesday.

The police intervened and forcibly evicted the protesting farmers from the Cauvery Riverbank. --

--ANI