Jat stir: Haryana tense as blockades likely to be removed

Around 600 CRPF personnel and two columns of Army took over control of the canal at around 4 AM and started fix work to ensure uninterrupted water supply to Delhi, official sources said.

Thousands of people and vehicles were stranded on NH-1 as the protesters laid siege to the highway in Sonipat and Panipat districts in the past three days, cutting off road connectivity to Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh through the highway.

Schools and government offices are shut today amid worries of a severe water crisis as Jat protests in neighbouring Haryana hit operations at the Munak Canal.

Protesters have attacked the homes of regional ministers, torched railway stations and staged sit-ins on tracks, blocking hundreds of trains. Ten people have been killed and about 150 injured in the state since Friday when officers fired on rioters, Haryana police chief Yash Pal Singal told a press conference, updating earlier estimates of five dead.

India already sets aside a proportion of jobs and university places for Dalits, known as “untouchables”, and for other so-called “backward castes”, under measures meant to remedy centuries of discrimination.

“There is no major incident in the last 24 hours in Rohtak and last night was peaceful”, a senior Rohtak Police official said today.

The Supreme Court on Monday sent a notice to the Centre and the Haryana government asking them to respond to Delhi’s petition saying the Jat agitation has disrupted their water supply. Violence in a state next to Delhi left parts of the canal broken that transport Delhi’s water supply.

They said that the force, which has deployed the largest number of 49 companies among various security forces, has been asked to clear the “lines of communication” like blocked roads and stuck traffic in the state witnessing protests by Jats.

The additional forces have been sent following a request by the Haryana government, which is grappling with the situation arising out of the violence following the Jat stir for quota in government jobs.

However, he said, though there are road blockades at few places in Rohtak, the situation is likely to improve during the day.

“The Jat agitation is not by one organization but by amorphous groups”.

Protesters again went on the rampage on Saturday despite a curfew and the deployment of the army, which is reported to have opened fire on them in the Rohtak and Jhajjar districts.