Ryots protest over inter-state river water disputes bill

A group of farmers are staging a sit-in protest here pressing their charter of demands, including withdrawal of a central bill relating to inter-state river water disputes.
The agitators, under the banner of Cauvery Rights Retrieval Committee's (CRRC), have been protesting in front of the District Collectorate since Monday.
Their key demands include withdrawal of Inter-state River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2017 introduced in Lok Sabha recently.
The bill proposes to set up a single standing tribunal, with multiple benches, instead of existing multiple tribunals to resolve water disputes between states.
Convener of CRRC, P Maniarasan today urged Chief Minister K Palaniswami to lead an all-party delegation to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to impress upon him not to amend the inter state water dispute Act.

Alleging that officials have been asking the protesters to disperse as they do not have permission to stage the protest at the venue, he said, "The administration should earmark a spot where we could continue the protest."
The protesters claim that this Amendment would lead to disbanding of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal,resulting in further delay in getting justice for the state with respect to its rights over the waters of the cauvery.