Caste protests cut water to Indian capital, hit industry

India deployed thousands of troops in a northern state on Sunday to quell protests that have severely hit water supplies to New Delhi and left at least 10 people dead. The rioting in Haryana by the Jats, a rural caste, damaged the vital Munak canal. Delhi government officials said the city only had water supplies until Sunday morning and announced closure of all schools on Monday. Rapid urbanization is putting pressure on water supplies after two years of drought, with the mega-city around the capital New Delhi relying on Haryana to meet much of its needs.

No water available now. Still no hope to get it.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia

Home Minister Rajnath Singh was expected later on Sunday to meet leaders of the Jat community - which makes up a quarter of the population in Haryana and numbers more than 80 million in northern Indian - in a bid to defuse the crisis. The central government also sent the army and paramilitary forces to sensitive areas, where mobile Internet services were jammed, a curfew imposed in several districts and roads blocked. The Jat protests echo a similar movement last year in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat, where the Patel community demanded a greater share of scarce government jobs and college places that are now reserved for people from lower castes.

Delhi water