Farmer organisations, opposition BJP and JD(S) on Saturday staged a massive protest against the Hemavathi Express Link Canal Project near Gubbi here, officials said.

The protesters had reportedly reached the project site. Later, they withdrew the protest after the administration assured to halt the project work. Some of the protesters were detained by the police, they said.

MLAs B Suresh Gowda, G B Jyothi Ganesh, and M T Krishnappa participated in the protest. There was heavy police deployment at the spot.
A group of seers from different religious Maths participated in the protest. Raising anti-government slogans, the protesters sat on the roads disrupting traffic. They also resorted to burning tyres and termed the government’s plan to divert the Hemavathi canal water to neighbouring Bengaluru South district (Ramanagara) despite public opposition as “unscientific”.