The Mysuru Kambala event is facing opposition from farmer, Dalit and environmental organisations, which have urged buffalo owners from Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts to voluntarily withdraw from the event because of drought conditions across Karnataka.
Speaking at a press conference in Mangaluru on Monday, A.T. Ramaswamy, president of the ‘Parisarakkagi Naavu’ organisation, called on the government to cancel the Mysuru Kambala. He said water scarcity was affecting farmers and residents and that the event should not be held until rainfall improves.
The organisers said the buffaloes participating in Kambala could face heat-related difficulties. Ramaswamy said the appeal was not against Kambala, which he described as a traditional folk sport of Tulu Nadu, but against conducting it during a period of severe water stress.
According to figures cited at the press conference, drought conditions were reported in more than 200 taluks in Karnataka. Ramaswamy said groundwater levels were declining and that hundreds of villages were facing serious drinking-water shortages. He questioned the use of what he described as lakhs of litres of water for the event while farmers and residents were struggling to secure water.
He also cited Mysuru district data, saying that 2,928 of its 2,991 lakes had dried up, while only 63 remained full because of canal water. Borewells within a 10-kilometre radius of Mysuru city were also said to have dried up. The Cauvery, Kabini, Hemavathi and Harangi reservoirs were reported to be recording declining water levels.
The Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and the Dalit Sangharsha Samiti were among the organisations supporting the appeal. Farmer leader Badagalapura Nagendra alleged that the site selected for the event had earlier been reserved for a park and had contained hundreds of trees, shrubs and habitats for small animals and birds.
Nagendra alleged that more than 50 trees were cut to prepare the site for Kambala and said the Forest Department had registered a first information report over the tree felling. The report did not provide details of the case number, the sections invoked or the status of any investigation.
The organisations also criticised the government’s drought compensation for farmers. Ramaswamy said the government had fixed crop-loss compensation at ₹2,500 and described the amount as an insult to affected farmers. He said farmers planned to deposit ₹2,501 into the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund after receiving the compensation, adding ₹1 to the announced amount.
The appeal does not amount to an official cancellation of the Mysuru Kambala. The event’s status, arrangements and any government decision on the demands were not specified in the report.
