Opinion Lost in the current

The Siddaramaiah government has a lot to answer for the mob violence that rocked Bangalore on Monday. Tension over the Supreme Court directive to Karnataka for releasing Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu had been building up over the weekend. Despite all indications that subnationalist groups are likely to storm the streets over what historically has been an emotional issue in the region, the state government could not deal with the situation. By the time curfew was imposed and police deployed in sufficient number, mobs had had a free run of the streets. As Siddaramaiah himself said, Bangalore is not just the capital of Karnataka but an international city and disruption of peace there has an economic cost. It is India’s premier knowledge city: Brand Bangalore is an aspirational idea that attracts both talent and capital. The challenge before the Congress government was to use political skills to assuage the aggrieved population and enforce the court order with minimum fuss. It clearly failed.

The arrests — at least 300 persons have been held for the violence and arson — since Monday night have helped the administration to regain control of the city. Some credit also goes to senior politicians — Siddaramaiah, his counterpart in Tamil Nadu, J. Jayalalithaa and even Prime Minister Narendra Modi — who have since refused to take sides and fan base sentiments. They need to extend this sober approach to the Cauvery dispute as well. The failure of the executive in the Cauvery basin states to agree over water sharing led the parties to approach the Supreme Court. The court’s interventions over the years and the Cauvery award in 2006 that outlined which state to get how much water have not helped calm water-starved farmers in lean season: In fact, all four basin states have contested the award and their appeals are pending in the Supreme Court. Mature political talk and tact is likely to work better than court directives in an emotional issue like water sharing.

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It may help if both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu reconcile to the fact that the Cauvery basin is overdeveloped. There may not be enough water in the river in a poor monsoon season to meet the needs of everyone. Instead of allowing free display of regional chauvinism, the state governments must cooperate closely to plan for the entire river basin than insist on prioritising the needs of their constituents. At present, there is a breakdown of trust among the basin states. Rumours are given precedence over facts — be it rainfall data or the scale of street violence — and state agencies do little to clear the air. This scenario allows non-state actors to influence the narrative, as it happened in Karnataka on Monday. The Cauvery is a life-giver, the states must not let blood be shed over its waters.