“The dispute over sharing of the Cauvery river waters is a long-standing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu”, it said in a statement.
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Around 15,000 police officers were deployed on the largely deserted streets of the country’s IT capital to enforce a curfew, after rampaging, stone-pelting mobs set buses and cars ablaze.
Industry body Assocham revealed that Karnataka, especially Bengaluru, is estimated to have suffered losses worth Rs. 22,000 to 25,000 crore as a result of the Cauvery water row.
Partial curfew was enforced three days since Tuesday after violence erupted on Monday in which one person was killed in police firing and 78 vehicles, including trucks and buses, were burnt across the city.
Incidents of looting and vandalism eased Tuesday in parts of India’s information technology hub of Bangalore after authorities imposed a curfew amid widespread protests overnight over India’s top court ordering the southern state of Karnataka to release water from a disputed river to the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu.
Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara said the government did not expect the protest to go to this extent.
Several Malaysian families now in Bangalore, India on vacation and business trips are stuck in their hotels after a curfew was imposed following riots in the city due to water disputes between two states there.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is waiting for an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi to seek his intervention in the water dispute.
Earlier Monday, protesters in Tamil Nadu vandalized a hotel in the city of Chennai owned by people from Karnataka, triggering violent protests in both states.
Vehicles with Tamil Nadu registration plates were attacked on Monday and protesters blocked roads by burning tires and torching effigies of politicians. We have made a decision to maintain law and order with an iron hand, ” said Siddaramaiah.
Tech companies and multinational firms that downed their shutters in India’s ITcapital on Tuesday have opened their offices and asked employees to return to work.
It’s secretary P Senthilkumar told reporters after a meeting of the association that 12 buses had been severely damaged in the last two days.
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The “Rythara hithrakshana samithee”, (committee for protection of farmers’ interests) headed by G. Madegowda, which is spearheading the Cauvery stir, staged a dharna and said they have no other option but to continue their protests till water release to Tamil Nadu stops.
