After the SC direction on Tuesday superceding the order of the Supervisory Committee in the Cauvery water dispute asking Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu till September 27, Bengaluru is witnessing hectic political parleys over the order.
Perturbed by the SC’s directive the ruling Congress Government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is in a fix over the issue and has called an emergency Cabinet meeting on Wednesday to discuss the pros and cons of the order. It is also heard in the corridors of power that Chief Minister will take a hard decision in this regard. In view of the Assembly polls in 2018, Karnataka is crucial for the Congress and already the ruling Government’s image has been dented over many issues. A Congress leader close to Chief Minister said “it is important that Siddaramaiah takes a hard decision in this matter. He has to play political game and talk to the party high command for ways to wriggle out from this.”
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who has written letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his intervention in this matter to resolve the issue amicably asking him to convene a meeting of the Chief Ministers of riparian States has so far found no answer from the PM. He has also written to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for a meeting to resolve the issue across the table.
A bench led by Justice Dipak Misra apart from directing Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of water from its reservoirs on the Cauvery basin and also asked the Centre to constitute the Cauvery Water Management Board within four weeks.
According to Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara elaborate security arrangements have been made to prevent any untoward incident across the state and especially in Bengaluru.
“Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has also called for a Cabinet meeting tomorrow. He has also called a meeting of the senior Ministers. We will take a decision tomorrow on this.” “Karnataka had complied with the earlier order and released 1.68 lakh cusecs until today. But there is no water in reservoirs even for drinking purpose”, he added.
In the wake of the Supreme Court hearing, security has been tightened in and around Bengaluru, with 16,000 police personnel, along with para-military forces, monitoring law and order. Security has been tightened at sensitive areas, bus stands and railway stations to prevent violent protests, apart from Attibele check post, with the deployment of a platoon of para-military force.
Police held flag marches in the sensitive areas. In many parts of Bengaluru, shops and commercial establishments functioned normally and no untoward incident was reported till the evening.
Meanwhile in Mandya, the epicenter of Cauvery agitation, authorities have declared holiday for schools and colleges.
The Mandya Zilla Raitha Hitarakshana Samiti (MZRHS) has expressed unhappiness over the SC order and announced that it would intensify protests in the district.
While vehicular movement on the Bengaluru-Mysuru Highway has significantly come down, the Bengaluru-Kanakapura-Mysuru road witnessed heavy traffic.
Though situation has been tense, no untoward incidents were reported.
Meanwhile, security remained tight across Mysuru with the police deploying additional forces from the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) and City Armed Reserve (CAR), besides mounted police at sensitive installations including State and Central Government offices, railway stations, bus stands, commercial complexes, besides schools and colleges.
Section 144 has been imposed in Bengaluru and is likely to remain in place till 27 September.