Protests That Led to Caste Violence in North India near End

“The problem is not over yet…We must consume water very carefully”, he said.

The army regained control of the 62-mile long Munak canal, Delhi’s water supply, after the protesting Jat community sabotaged the canal during rioting across northern India.

Das further said that a canal supplying water to New Delhi that had been blocked by protesters has been cleared.

On Saturday night, the Delhi government asked the Supreme Court to direct the Centre to step in and ensure water supply to the capital.

Sporadic violence was reported in Haryana on Sunday, with protesters setting a bank ATM and bank records on fire.

Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma meanwhile said that the Haryana violence had left 16 people dead.

But even if the agitation ends today and the Munak flows unhindered, the water supply in the city will take a day or two to resume fully.

A representative of the Jats, traditional farmers who make up the single largest community in the state, with almost 8 million members, told Agence France-Presse they had accepted the offer and would cease the protests completely.

Many Jats, who have been traditionally considered upper caste, want quotas for members of their community to get government jobs under India’s caste-based quota system.

Haryana’s Jats – a rural but relatively prosperous caste group – are demanding the same reservations in government employment as extended to economically backward lower castes.

The counsel appearing on behalf of the Haryana government assured the apex court that the state was taking measures to restore the water supply.

“The clashes are ongoing and we had to use firearms to break up the protesters”, the officer told AFP.

There’s “agreement over our remaining demand for financial compensation to the families of those who lost their lives (during the protests)”, Jat leader Yashpal Malik said Monday.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced water rationing throughout the city, and said all schools would be closed on Monday to conserve supplies.

India sets aside a proportion of government jobs and university seats for castes that have faced discrimination for centuries and are economically or socially disadvantaged.

Bowing to the pressure, the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Haryana has said it will pass a bill in the next Assembly session giving them reservations.

Delhi government’s standing counsel Rahul Mehra said, “Water should be supplied immediately to Delhi as it is the lifeline of the people”.