KRRS appeals to buffalo owners to desist from participating in Mysuru Dasara Kambala

Karnataka Rajya Raita Sangha (KRRS) appealed to owners of buffaloes, in the coastal region, registered for participating in Mysuru Dasara Kambala to cancel their registration and withdraw from the sport.

The kambala in Mysuru is scheduled on October 18 and 19.

Addressing press persons in Mangaluru on October 12, Badagalapura Nagendra, State president of KRRS, said, “We fervently urge the conscientious people of the coastal region to persuade the buffalo owners to withdraw from the kambala event.”

Stating that KRRS holds immense respect and admiration for the kambala, the traditional rural sport of the coastal region, he said that the KRRS opposes holding kambla in Mysuru for three reasons.

Water shortage and drought

Holding kambala requires huge quantity of water. More than 200 taluks across Karnataka are reeling under severe drought, leaving farmers and the general public in deep distress. Mysuru district is also severely affected by the drought. Dozens of villages are facing drinking water shortage. Out of the 2,991 lakes in the district, 2,928 are completely dry; water has been released through canals to fill only 63 of them. Borewells within a 10-km radius of Mysuru city have dried up. Several neighbourhoods in the city are already facing an acute shortage of drinking water.

Kambala site was a park

Secondly, the KRRS president said, the site selected for the kambala was originally designated as a park. It was home to an ecosystem comprising hundreds of trees, shrubs, and bushes, a dried-up lake bed, and small animals and birds, like rabbits and squirrels. Now, more than 50 trees and hundreds of shrubs have been removed, the ecosystem they supported has been destroyed, and the lake bed has been filled in to create a track for buffalo racing. The Forest Department had even registered an FIR regarding the felling of the trees.

‘Existing events need to be properly organised’

Mr. Nagendra said, thirdly, during the Dasara festival, alongside the world-famous Ambari (Golden Howdah) procession, numerous other events are organised — such as Women’s Dasara, Children’s Dasara, Farmers’ Dasara, Yuva Dasara, Yuva Sambhrama, food festivals, laser shows, and sports competitions. The grievance of Mysuru’s citizens is that these events are not being organised in a systematic manner. The priority should be to organise existing events properly.

Notwithstanding several voices, including from writers and artists, against organising the kambala in Mysuru, the government of Karnataka remains adamant. “The organisers of the kambala event have not responded to our appeals. Therefore, as a final effort, we have come to Mangaluru to appeal to the people of the coastal region, and the owners of the kambala buffaloes,” he said.

A. T. Ramaswamy, former MLA, Parashurame Gowda, general secretary, Parisarakkagi Navu Samithi, and Ravikiran Punacha, general secretary, KRRS, Guruprasad Keregodu, State convener of Dalit Sangarsha Samithi, were among those present.