Violence over Cauvery Issue: Celebs urge people to maintain peace

Many shops, commercial establishments and offices remained closed, as did numerous eateries and hotels.

“With widespread damage to vital urban infrastructure, as well as interruptions in transport including roads, rail and air and the inability of the workforce to safely move to and from offices and factories, Karnataka, particularly Bengaluru city, is estimated to have suffered a loss of up to 3.7 billion Dollars due to Cauvery dispute related-violence. This is all hit and run kind of thing where 20-30 people join together to protest where police are not there, then they suddenly run away”. Being a holiday for Bakrid, educational institutions and some offices were closed. “Business Continuity Plans have been invoked to avoid disruption to mission critical projects”, a Wipro spokesperson said in a email.

An Amazon India spokesperson said delivery of products has been temporarily impacted owing to the current situation.

“All these losses would run between Rs 22,000 crore and Rs 25,000 crore, besides of course vast damage to the goodwill of the state as an attractive investment destination”, the chamber said.

Companies like Amazon and Flipkart said their operations had been affected majorly by the protests in the IT hub.

“We are trying to mitigate all customer impact by keeping them informed about expected delays”, he added.

The Cauvery River originates in Karnataka and flows into Tamil Nadu before eventually feeding into the Bay of Bengal.

There were also reports that protesters pulled over trucks with Tamil Nadu license plates, beating at least one driver.

Prime minister Narendra Modi Tuesday expressed pain over the developments in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over the Cauvery water dispute and appealed for peace while underlining that violence can not provide solution to any problem.

On Tuesday there was an uneasy calm in the city following large-scale violence over the raging Cauvery water sharing row with neighbouring Tamil Nadu. It is in the fitness of things that such issues are resolved through discussions among the concerned parties.

In Bengaluru, under prohibitory orders till tomorrow and where 16 localities remained under curfew, there were palpable signs of normalcy returning, as city police assisted by central forces kept a close vigil.

With buses, taxis, autos and metro rail resuming service, thousands of people were seen commuting to offices and workplaces in and around the city.