A shutdown to protest against the release of Cauvery waters brought Karnataka to a complete halt.
The Karnataka government has filed a petition against the Supreme Court's order of releasing 15,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu for the next 10 days. Massive protests are being held in the state which argues it has just enough water for drinking purposes.
A state-wide bandh that shut schools and offices - including tech giants like Wipro and Infosys - was observed on Thursday which was enforced by political parties and volunteers.
Massive protests are being held in Madya which largely depends on water from the KRS dam for irrigation. Schools in the district have been shut since Tuesday.
Karnataka has argued that it has just enough water in its Cauvery reservoirs for its own drinking and irrigation needs and that Tamil Nadu has water stored in its Mettur Reservoir, and is also still to get rainfall as part of the north easy monsoon. A hearing of the Cauvery Monitoring Committee on the issue is scheduled for Monday.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of the Congress has also has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting a meeting with J Jayalalithaa, his counterpart in Tamil Nadu.
Karnataka government also welcomed a reported statement from Union Minister Uma Bharti about intervening in the Cauvery river water dispute.
"If she has given the gesture that she will intervene (to resolve the Cauvery dispute), we welcome it. It will be a step towards solving the problem," Karnataka Law Minister TB Jayachandra told reporters Bengaluru.