Chennai: As protests over releasing Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu turned violent in Karnataka leading to attacks on the Tamils, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa urged her Karnataka counterpart Siddaramaiah to ensure safety and security of many lakhs of Tamil-speaking people residing in Karnataka and their properties.
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The violence also flared up shortly after the Supreme Court, modifying its September 5 order, today asked Karnataka to release a reduced amount of 12,000 cusecs of Cauvery River water to Tamil Nadu till September 20.
Farmers in both states, who depend on river water to irrigate their crops, have complained of severe water shortages.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Shekhar said the Committee has asked for more data on the water released to other States in the past nine years.
Police opened fire in northwest Bengaluru in the evening. “Stay calm and not to panic”.
Bangalore is home to Indian IT companies as well as offices of global tech giants such as Microsoft and Dell.
The group also allegedly left pamphlets warning of retaliation if Tamils were targeted in Karnataka. At least one truck driver was beaten with a stick.
Karnataka’s home minister G Parameshwara said the government did not expect the protests to escalate to this level of violence.
The police said as many as 15,000 police men and officers have been deployed all over the city and around 270 Hoysala vehicles are deployed which act like police outposts.
The police said later they had also imposed Section 144 that prohibits gatherings in public areas.
Besides Shekhar, the meeting is being attended by officials of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry governments. The earlier order on September 5 had directed Karnataka to release 15,000 cusecs to Tamil Nadu for 10 days.
The Karnataka state government has appealed against the top court ruling. The repoted attacks on Kannada speaking people and their properties in Tamil Nadu and the adverse order by the division bench resulted in violent incident in Karnataka that resulted in large-scale arson and vandalism in the city and some districts. The attack took place in the early hours as a mob belonging to a pro-Tamil outfit threw six petrol bombs at the New Woodlands Hotel on Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai.
The clash over water led to vehicles with Tamil Nadu license plates being set on fire in Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka, and reports of similar reprisal incidents in Tamil Nadu. Vehicles with Tamil Nadu registration plates have been attacked and protesters have blocked roads by burning tyres and torching effigies of politicians.
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Union home minister Rajnath Singh has promised support to both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to limit the violence and maintain peace.
