Water row: Protests over river dispute turn violent in Indian IT hub Karnataka state

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An activist jumps over a burning tire and an effigy of Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu state Jayaram Jayalalitha during a protest against a recent Supreme Court order on a river water sharing dispute, in Bangalore. Photo: Ap

Published: 7:45pm, 12 Sep 2016Updated: 4:53pm, 13 Sep 2016

India’s technology hub of Bengaluru deployed riot police on Monday to rein in protests as a water dispute turned violent, with cars and buses set of fire and people pelted with stones.

Television footage showed flames pouring from burnt-out vehicles as angry crowds gathered nearby, while police said the local metro network had been temporarily suspended.

The violence erupted after India’s Supreme Court ordered Karnataka state, where Bengaluru is based, to release 12,000 cubic feet of water per second every day from the Cauvery river to neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

The river has been the source of more than a century of tension between the states, and the anger has previously turned violent – in 1991 an interim court order telling Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu sparked riots against Tamils in Bengaluru, leaving more than 18 people dead.

Indian youth walk past as two trucks that came from the neighbouring Tamil Nadu state go up in flames during violence in Bangalore. Photo: AP

“Rapid Action Force Teams have been deployed all over the city,” Bengaluru city police said on Twitter on Monday. “We urge to all Bengalurians ... Stay calm and not to be panic.”

A witness saw a group of 20 to 30 protesters, some armed with sticks and stones, stopping and searching cars.