On September 12, the apex court modified its earlier order on sharing of Cauvery water and directed Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs instead of 15,000 cusecs per day till September 20 to Tamil Nadu.
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The industry body further said that violence in the state capital and other parts of Karnataka has “severely dented” the image of Bengaluru as the Silicon Valley of India, which is home to numerous Fortune 500 companies, making a fervent appeal for peace in both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
“Releasing water, following the Supreme Court directives after hearing our modification petition, is a very hard proposition. We have taken the decision to release water constitutionally, legally, and politically”, said the CM.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has appealed to social media users to not support any hate campaign.
“This dispute can only be solved within the legal ambit”.
The Prime Minister added that he is pained at the developments.
“Whenever the country has faced adverse circumstances, the people of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, just like people across the country have always handled the situation with sensitivity”, he tweeted. “From the beginning, injustice has been meted out to Karnataka with respect to its share of Cauvery water”.
A minister told ET that the council debated whether the SC order could be defied, as the state and the ruling Congress party was paying a serious political price for it. Advocate General MR Naik explained the reasons for citing the state’s law and order situation in the modification petition to the SC.
The group also allegedly left pamphlets warning of retaliation if Tamils were targeted in Karnataka.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi should intervene and hold talks with both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for an amicable settlement on the issue, she said.
Asking the citizens of two states to take a sensitive stand, the Prime Minister said, “I appeal to the people of the two States, to display sensitivity, and also keep in mind their civic responsibilities”. Law and order is not restricted to Karnataka alone, ” Mr Siddaramaiah added.
A security personnel walks past the skeletal remains of Karnataka state transport buses following violence due to the Cauvery water dispute, in Bangalore on September 13, 2016.
However, “ban order under section 144 of the CrPC on assembling of more than five persons at public places and populated areas continues till further order to ensure peace and prevent any untoward incident”, police commissioner NS Megharikh said. However, the number of deaths due to protests went up to two, with another man succumbing to his injuries at a hospital.
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Authorities then imposed the curfew in the troubled parts of Bangalore, bringing the situation under control, he said.
