Bengaluru: The state government tabled a bill to legalise kambala, an age-old wetland buffalo race that is widely held in the coastal state between the months of November and March.

The bill was tabled on Friday in the Assembly by Minister for Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Horticulture A Manju. The legislative assembly is expected to discuss the bill to legalise kambala on Monday.

Karnataka’s move comes in the backdrop of the decision by neighbouring Tamil Nadu to promulgate an ordinance to continue with jallikattu, a traditional bull-taming sport that was prohibited along with kambala by the Supreme Court.

The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, 2017, seeks to exempt the conduct of Kambala events from the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. However, the bill states that kambala can be permitted on the condition that no unnecessary pain or suffering is caused to the animals.