Residents of Kadur village in Karnataka’s Haveri district staged an unusual protest over a prolonged drinking-water shortage on Thursday morning by tying a cow inside the room of the village Panchayat Development Officer (PDO) at the gram panchayat office.
The protest took place in Kadur gram panchayat of Rattihalli taluk, where villagers first surrounded the panchayat office and questioned the PDO and the secretary over the continuing shortage. The residents tied the cow in front of the officials’ chairs and placed fodder for it, demanding that drinking-water supply be restored.
According to the residents, the village has faced the water problem for three to four years. They said repeated appeals had been submitted seeking a solution, but the shortage had continued. The residents said the protest was intended to draw attention to the failure to address the issue despite their earlier representations.
The villagers said people were being forced to walk several kilometres every day to collect water from their homes. They also said women and children were spending much of their time fetching water, turning access to a basic service into a daily burden for households in the village.
The residents told Prajavani that they had started the protest after their requests failed to produce a solution. They said they would not take the cow away until drinking water was provided. The protest therefore combined a demand for immediate supply with a larger complaint about the absence of a lasting response to the village’s water crisis.
The villagers also alleged that the PDO used abusive language when questioned about the protest. This allegation could not be independently confirmed from the report. The PDO and other officials left the office soon after the cow was tied, and the PDO was unavailable for comment when Prajavani sought a response.
The incident places the responsibility for resolving the shortage before the local panchayat and the relevant administrative authorities. The report does not specify the source of the village’s water supply, the reason for the prolonged disruption, the number of affected households, or whether emergency water tankers or another interim arrangement has been deployed. It also does not record any official timeline for restoring regular supply.
The immediate demand from the protesting residents is for drinking water to be provided to Kadur village. Any formal response from the PDO, the gram panchayat or higher authorities, including details of remedial measures and a restoration timeline, remains awaited.
