The Indian city of Bengaluru, in Karnataka state, is under curfew after violent protests broke out in the area over the sharing of river water with neighboring Tamil Nadu state.
Authorities imposed a curfew Tuesday in India's tech hub of Bangalore to quell violence that erupted over a water-sharing agreement from a local river.
Work ground to a halt at many of the city's technology firms, streets were deserted and stores shuttered. The state's chief minister, Siddaramaiah, told reporters that he was worried about what the bloodshed was doing to the image of the area, often called the "the Silicon Valley of India."
At issue is the allocation of water from the Cauvery River, also known as the Kaveri, which originates in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, where Bangalore is located, and flows into neighboring Tamil Nadu. A water-sharing agreement between the two Indian states that has been a source of controversy for more than a century.
In 2007, a government panel established an official allocation system that Karnataka has long argued favors farmers in Tamil Nadu. The Supreme Court had directed the Karnataka government to release water to Tamil Nadu in the coming days, sparking the protests. Protesters are not only concerned about water for irrigation, but drinking water supplies as well.
Disputes over control of water supplies are not uncommon around the world. Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia have quarreled for years over dams and other water-control measures along the Nile. In the United States, the Colorado River is at the center of a tug-of-war between the needs of agriculture and growing cities.
India is now the latest flash point in water-use battles, which some experts believe could become more acute worldwide as climate change boosts temperatures and influences weather patterns.
"People should not take law in their own hands," Siddaramaiah, who goes by one name, said.
Chanting “we will give blood, but not Cauvery,” protesters took to the streets Monday, torching hundreds of buses and stores and clashing with police. At least two people have died in the unrest.
Although violence has flared over the issue for years, drought-like conditions have lingered in Karnataka even as the country overall experienced a normal monsoon season.
Source: Reuters