Bengaluru began crawling back to normalcy on Wednesday with a few schools and colleges opening in some parts of the city and state road transport and city buses commencing operations amid an uneasy calm while curfew remained in force in 16 localities.
Karnataka had suffered violence after the Supreme Court ordered the state to release River Cauvery ‘s water to Tamil Nadu.
Tech companies and multinational firms that downed their shutters in India’s IT capital on Tuesday have opened their offices and asked employees to return to work. But most schools declared a holiday on Wednesday as well , and so have a few colleges. Schools were directed to open on Wednesday but many said they would do so only if the police gave protection.
Government offices and banks are expected to function normally. Shops and business establishments have also opened after two days of closure.
Read | Cauvery cocktail: River dispute exposes Karnataka, Tamil Nadu fault lines
Traffic snarls made their appearance again, indicating that things were returning to normal, said an IT professional, Siddharth Dave at Electronic City located close to the Bengaluru-Hosur border.
{{/usCountry}}Traffic snarls made their appearance again, indicating that things were returning to normal, said an IT professional, Siddharth Dave at Electronic City located close to the Bengaluru-Hosur border.
{{/usCountry}}Police and para military forces are maintaining strict vigil. Curfew and ban orders in 16 localities in the city that witnessed large scale violence and arson on Monday, will be in force till evening.
Para military personnel have staged flag marches in few areas to instil confidence among people and also to send a stern warning to miscreants. Police have rounded up close to 400 people in different parts of Bengaluru and across the state.
Read | Cauvery dispute: Flipkart, Infosys shut Bengaluru offices after violence
Karnataka’s director general of police Om Prakash said situation was under control and the state was peaceful, barring couple of stray incidents.
“People who indulged in violence have been identified and we will nab them,” Prakash told television channels.
The incidents of rioting and arson across Karnataka has reportedly caused losses of nearly Rs 25,000 crore according to trade body ASSOCHAM.
The latest flare-up occurred after the Supreme Court modified its order on Monday asking Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu till September 20. Karnataka, where farmers are facing water shortage due to a deficient monsoon, stores the river’s water at the reservoir on the Krishna Raja Sagara Dam in Srirangapatna near Mandya.
Karnataka is banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a lasting solution to the over century-old water sharing dispute with Tamil Nadu. Chief minister S Siddaramaiah has requested Modi’s intervention to find an amicable solution to the crisis that is affecting the farmers in delta region in the two states.
Read | Troubled waters over Cauvery but Karnataka, TN have history of sharing