Hundreds of farmers rallied under the umbrella of Tamizhaga Vivasaya Sangagalin Kootiyakkam and marched to the inter- State border protesting against Mekadatu before courting arrests near Zuzuvadi in Hosur on Wednesday (July 15, 2026).

The farmers from across the delta districts along with the farmers of the Western region gathered in Hosur to come down on the Karnataka government’s proposed Mekadatu Balancing Reservoir Project, stating it would the sound the death knell for Delta’s agriculture.

Speaking to The Hindu, Kaveri Danapalan, president of Tamilzhaga Vivasaya Sangagalin Kootiyakkam, contended as the Union government is unwilling or condemn or call out Karnataka on the Mekadatu dam, it shows no Union government will speak up for Tamil Nadu. It is for Tamil Nadu government to stand up and fight for the farmers.

Leading the protests alongside the Namakkal based Narayanasamy Naiduvin Tamizhaga Vivasaya Sangam, Mr. Kaveri Danapalan said, while Cauvery issue was steering the politics in Karnataka, whereas in Tamil Nadu, it was politics that was steering the narrative around Cauvery issue. This was the reason Tamil Nadu was losing out to Karnataka, Mr.Danapalan added.

“As the farmers protest here, we have already lost 7 lakhs acres of Kuruvai crop that has been stalled because the waters were not released. This entails a 15 lakh tonne production loss, loss of 83 man days per acres, affecting 13 lakh farm laboureres and 5 lakh small and marginal farmers. Now the farmers are pushed to look for Samba crop dependent on the monsoons,” according to Mr.Danapalan.

In Tamil Nadu, the Mettur dam would be opened on June 12 and closed on January 22, and Delta region’s entire agriculture was tailored around these dates. But there was no such caveats for Karnataka, which has been drawing water from Cauvery at will. How will the water be saved, stored and shared with the lower riparian State, when it is drawn at will for Karnataka’s agricuture across all seasons? asks Mr.Danapalan.

In Tamil Nadu, sugarcane is grown only in areas with borewell irrigation. However in Karnataka, sugarcane is not restricted to borewell irrigation, which meant that Cauvery water is used at will round the year, he added.

“When water is not stored and shared, how can there be water left for Tamil Nadu. We are not in a stone age, we cannot go break down the dam, or wield weapons. We are resorting to democratic means of protests,” he said, adding that “Karnataka cannot treat Cauvery as a discharge channel during floods and withhold water for cultivation.”

Another section of protesters alleged that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay in alliance with the Congress, which is also ruling Karnataka is keeping silent instead of taking a fighting stance for the sake of farmers.

Recently, the water resources Minister of Karnataka had told the media that they had not heard from the Tamil Nadu government and that nobody from the government had approached the Karnataka government. Why this silence,” asked one of the protesters affiliated to the Narayanasamy NaiduvinTamizhaga Vivasayigal Sangam, which is also part of the protests.

Faceoff at inter-State border

In a near face-off protests on either side of the inter-State border, the Kannada outfits led by ex-MLA Vatal Nagaraj led the Kannada protesters who raised slogans against Tamil Nadu for objecting to the dam. They raised slogans demanding the Mekadatu dam be built.

The protest blockade called by the Kannada outfits impacted inter-state movement of public and private bus transport, where Karnataka bound buses were halted at Hosur bus stand on Wednesday. However, private vehicles continued to ply across the border.