Besides Shekhar, the meeting is being attended by officials of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry governments.
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Platoons of Karnataka State Reserve Police have been rushed to Mandya and Mysuru for deployment on the state highways and protecting reservoirs in the river basin from being attacked by angry protestors over the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said he would write to his Tamil Nadu counterpart Jayalalithaa to help cooperate in maintaining cordiality between the states, which are now locked in a bitter row over release of Cauvery water.
A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and U U Lalit, which sat on a holiday to consider the urgent plea of Karnataka, however, expressed deep anguish over the “tone and tenor” of the fresh plea and said the law and order situation can not be taken as a ground for non-compliance of the order of the court. “We’ll again appeal after 20 Sept”, Parameshwara said. The Minister said the state had already written to the panel, informing it about the difficulties and problems faced by the people due to the Apex Court’s direction. However, it was no relief for the state as the order meant that the state had to release 1.80lakh cusecs of water after the latest order compared to 1.5 lakh cusecs of water according to earlier order.
India’s technology hub of Bengaluru deployed riot police and banned public gatherings on Monday to rein in protests as a water dispute turned violent, with cars and buses set on fire and people pelted with stones.
The Cauvery fact-finding committee was built in the 1970s to measure requirement of water in both the states.
A video clip showing the boy being thrashed by several men went viral on the Internet and was also telecast by local channels in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Kerala Transport Minister A K Saseendran said in view of the serious situation prevailing in Karnataka, Kerala government has chose to temporarily cancel the services of state-run Kerala Road Transport Corporation buses.
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Siddaramaiah has said in his letter that if the current unrest continues, then it will have a serious impact on the IT industry of the state, impacting on the economy of the country. Reeling under the effects of a week of protests and the threat of a massive water crisis following the order, Karnataka knocked at the doors of the Supreme Court citing a major law and order situation that threatened to engulf the whole State.
