Security beefed up in Karnataka ahead of Cauvery Supervisory

Bengaluru, Sep 18: Even as the Cauvery Supervisory Committee is scheduled to meet in New Delhi tomorrow to decide on the quantum of river water to be released to Tamil Nadu and other states, anxiety prevails in Karnataka over its outcome.

Security has been beefed up in Mandya, Chamrajnagar, Mysuru, Bengaluru and other parts of the state ahead of the meeting, police said.

"The police, ahead of crucial Cauvery Supervisory Committee meeting tomorrow, have taken necessary security steps to check any untoward incident," IGP (Central Range) Seemanth Kumar told reporters here.

Supreme Court on September 15 had taken Karnataka and Tamil Nadu governments to task for failing to check violence following its order on the Cauvery dispute, asserting that its verdict "has to be complied with" and violent agitation would serve no purpose as those aggrieved were free to take legal recourse.

The apex court also had directed both states to ensure that there is no violence, agitation, destruction and damage to property following its order and asked them to maintain peace, calm and dignity for law. Property worth several crore has been damaged in violence in the two states after the Supreme Court order.

Kumar said RAF and BSF platoons will be deployed in Bengaluru Rural and Kolar districts which share borders with Tamil Nadu. Police would be deployed on national highways to check traffic disruptions likely to be made by pro-Kannada outfits in next two days. Yesterday, Kannada Okkuta Leader Vatal Nagaraj had threatened to disrupt vehicles at Attibele near Hosur, which falls in Tamil Nadu, tomorrow and the day after.

PTI