Deadly north India protests lead to New Delhi water shortage

Authorities in a north Indian state have begun lifting a curfew in key towns and protesters have removed roadblocks after clashes left 12 people dead during their demonstrations for government benefits.

At least 10 people have been killed in firing on protesters by Indian security forces since the weeklong protests turned violent on Friday, Yashpal Singhal, the state’s top police officer, told reporters on Sunday.

Members of the Jat caste say they are struggling to find work despite India’s strong economic growth. The government has expanded the number of groups, including the Jat, qualifying for quotas.

Chaos reigned in Haryana on Saturday with escalated violence in several areas as hooligans, who have joined the ranks of Jat protestors, ran amok setting on fire government and private property as well as vehicles. The meeting will discuss the reservation issue for Jats and the situation in the state.

But caste discrimination was legally abolished in India’s 1949 constitution and the state later introduced a national quota system of government jobs and university system as a kind of affirmative action for former lower castes. ATMs were also running out of cash, official sources said.

Kaithal is the ninth Haryana town where curfew has been imposed, the others being Rohtak, Bhiwani, Jhajjar, Jind, Hisar, Hansi, Sonipat and Gohana town of Sonipat district.

The Delhi government is also prepared to extended its resources and technical know-how required for fix of the Munak canal to its Haryana counterparts, Mishra said.

The country’s army took control of the canal which supplies 60 per cent of the city’s water after protesters blocked it, the state’s chief minister said, raising hope that a water crisis in the metropolis of more than 20 million people could be averted.

“Water to be equally rationed amongst all”.

Both Sisodia and Kejriwal said that if nothing was done immediately, “water supply in Delhi will face an unmanageable crisis”.

Protesters maintained blockades of roads into Haryana, television footage showed.

One of India’s largest carmakers, Maruti Suzuki, suspended operations at its two Haryana plants after the protests disrupted supplies of components. They have been angered by comments in recent weeks by a BJP leader who opposed reservations for them.

He has been posted as IG, State Crime Record Bureau, Madhuban with immediate effect, a spokesman said here.

As before, the 65-year-old leader ignored the protests – instead giving a speech on rural and urban development in the eastern state of Chattisgarh, unveiling a statue to a late Indian guru and praising a 104-year-old woman for backing his campaign for a Clean India. With supply likely to be hit in all parts of the city, the Delhi government ordered schools and government offices to shut on Monday, to ensure enough supplies for army and government installations, emergency services and hospitals.