Police in Karnataka on Thursday prepared for a rail roko protest organised under the leadership of former state MLA Vishal Nagaraj, the Deccan Chronicle reported. Nagaraj said the agitation will go on from 6 am till 6 pm, and assured people that it would be peaceful. He said the protest had been organised to draw the central government’s attention to the Cauvery water-sharing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
A railway police official said additional forces have been deployed at stations around the state including at all stations in the state capital of Bengaluru and in cities such as Mysuru, Hubbali and Raichur, The Indian Express reported. “There will be no bandh for trains,” the official added. A South Western Railway official confirmed that the railway schedule has not been changed.
Life in Bengaluru slowly returned to normal on Wednesday after curfew was lifted from areas under the jurisdiction of all 16 police stations in the city. A senior police officer said vehicles were back on roads and shops and other establishments were open. Police Commissioner NS Megharikh said that investigations to identify the people who had indulged in violence had begun.
The state was hit by widespread protests after the Supreme Court ordered Karnataka to release water from the Cauvery river to Tamil Nadu on September 5. On Tuesday, state Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had said that Karnataka will obey the Supreme Court’s order. The court had earlier reduced the amount of water Karnataka needed to release from 15,000 cusecs to 12,000 cusecs. The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India said the state has suffered losses of around Rs 25,000 crore because of the protests and bandhs held in the past few days over the water-sharing dispute.
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