Bengaluru is returning to normal after two days of violence in Karnataka over Cauvery water dispute
Highlights
- Some schools and colleges reopened on Wednesday
- Curfew was lifted in all 16 areas of the city
- Protests over court asking Karnataka to share more Cauvery river water
After two days of violent protests over Cauvery dispute - which led to a shutdown -- Bengaluru was largely peaceful on Wednesday. A curfew imposed on the city's violence-hit areas since Monday was removed. Bus and metro services started and some schools and colleges also reopened.
Here are the latest developments in this big story:
Large gatherings are still banned in the city as a precaution, Bengaluru Police Commissioner NS Megharikh told NDTV.
IT companies opened their offices on Wednesday. Software major Infosys as well as multinationals like Amazon.com were among companies that had asked their staff to stay home on Tuesday.
Some schools, shut for two days following the protests, reopened this morning. Others declared a holiday either for Onam festival or as a precaution.
"I visited the place with large population of Tamil people and have reassured them that no untoward incident will happen again," Home Minister G Parameshwara told NDTV.
A call to stop train services, however, has been issued for Thursday. Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation buses to Tamil Nadu and Kerala, too, remain suspended.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who had asked PM Narendra Modi to intervene in the matter, said he is still waiting for an appointment. On Tuesday, PM Modi said the situation in Bengaluru is "distressful" and added that breaking the law is not a "viable alternative" since it was causing loss to the poor.
The case -- sharing of water -- will be heard once again in the Supreme Court next week. The trouble had resurfaced in the decades-old dispute over the Cauvery river, which flows through Karnataka into Tamil Nadu, after the Supreme Court last week asked Karnataka to release 15,000 cusecs of water to its neighbour.
Karnataka's irrigation minister MB Patil said, "We have hardly water left for drinking purposes. We need 28 tmc for drinking water for Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mandya and the Cauvery basin villages...Our dams have hardly 40 tmc...We are in a severe crisis."
Violence erupted over a Supreme Court order on Monday that indicated that Karnataka has to yield more water than it was asked to last week. Two people were killed in police firing in Rajgopalnagar and 30 buses were set on fire in the outskirts of Bengaluru. Over 350 people were arrested for vandalism.
After violence, which may potentially create law and order problem, domestic airlines including national carrier Air India and private carriers - Indigo, Vistara, Jet Airways - announced on Tuesday that they would waive flight cancellation/ rescheduling changes for flights to Bengaluru for a specified period.
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