Bangalore is witnessing severe public unrest today as hundreds of people protesting over the Cauvery Water issue have taken to the streets. After the state-imposed Bandh went without incident on Friday, today’s scenes have taken the city by surprise.
This video from a mob setting a vehicle on fire was shared by a user on Facebook.
Shops have been forced to shut down, and vehicles belonging to Tamil Nadu (bearing TN number plates) have been vandalised and set afire in some parts of the city.
@TimesNow BANGALORE riot's on Cauveri issue pic.twitter.com/TGjNtSN4IH
— Anup Kulkarni (@AnupKulkarni2) September 12, 2016
#riot #CauveryIssue #live #bangalore pic.twitter.com/6DowEyYyjZ
— praveen deekshidar (@udgatr) September 12, 2016
“No Ola, Uber, Metro, Autos – Companies have already sent back their employees. Mayhem – In one word.”, said a witness.
Vandals set fire to vehicle with Tamil Nadu number plate in Mysuru Road, Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/15tYxs7XwV
— ANI (@ANI_news) September 12, 2016
WATCH: Pro-Kannada activists set a vehicle on fire in #Bengaluru during protests over #CauveryIssue. pic.twitter.com/hDTuNZULd1
— ANI (@ANI_news) September 12, 2016
The situation got so serious by evening that the Bangalore police has imposed a section 144 situation in the city preventing any groups of 5 or more people to gather at a place.
#CauveryIssue : As A Preventive Measure #Section144 CrPC Is Imposed In Bengaluru City From 1700 Hours Today @CPBlr
— BengaluruCityPolice (@BlrCityPolice) September 12, 2016
As of 9pm, the situation doesn’t seem to have eased much. As per an update, 30 buses belonging to TN have been set afire.
35 buses of KPN, a Tamil-owned operator gutted in #CauveryViolence on Bengaluru's outskirts. https://t.co/Iy85SGr2pb pic.twitter.com/TwPklp20Zy
— Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) September 12, 2016
Unfortunately, an India today journalist has been attacked while covering the situation.
India Today crew attacked by protesters. Deputy Editor Rohini Swamy tells more about the ordeal. #CauveryViolence pic.twitter.com/2WlomX8WDe
— India Today (@IndiaToday) September 12, 2016
Update: As of 10pm, curfew has been imposed in the following areas of Bengaluru:
Rajgopal Nagar Kamakshipalya, Vijaynagar, Byatarayanpura, Kengeri. Magadi Rd, Rajajinagar, RR Nagara, KP Agrahara Chandralayout, Yeshwanathapura, Mahalakshmilayout, Peenya, RMC Yard, Nandini Layout, Jnanabharathi Police Station limits.
As of 10pm, additionally security and para-military forces have been deployed at various points in the city. All shops, educational institutions and government offices to remain closed tomorrow until further notice. IT companies have declared offs or enabled the Work from home option.
Update: A bystander, identified as a 25 year old man, has been killed in a police firing.
A user generated map has been created on Google maps to indicate areas of unrest and protests.
The Cauvery river water issue has been a bone of contention between the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for years now. The recent protests started after the Supreme Court ordered Karnataka to let 15,000 cusecs of Cauvery water into Tamil Nadu every day for the next 10 days. Even though the SC modified the verdict to reduce the allowance to 12,000 cusecs, protestors from Karnataka contend that the allowance will hurt the poor and farmers due to an ongoing water crisis in the state.
The last time the city had witnessed an unrest of this magnitude was when the central govt. had announced a new policy to disallow withdrawing PF. The policy had since been repealed.