Most commercial establishments remained closed in Chennai on Friday in response to the State-wide strike called by opposition political parties and farmers associations over the Cauvery water sharing dispute.

In Chennai road traffic was sparse, with very few autorickshaws and cabs plying. Police presence was prominent at all major traffic junctions and outside offices. Shops, restaurants and other commercial establishments in major business districts in including T Nagar and Parrys were closed for the day. With the restaurants closed, roadside eateries and street food businesses saw brisk sales.

But public transport services, banks, pharmacies and other essential services worked as usual. Also, manufacturing operations including in SSIs and MSEs in industrial estates, and in major industrial hubs in Sriperumbudur, Oragadam and Maraimalai Nagar remained unaffected. It was also business as usual for IT companies and in government offices.

Political parties such as the DMK, MDMK, the Left parties, VCK and PMK organised demonstrations across the State. Traders and transport associations supported the call for demonstrations. A 24-year-old supporter of the Naam Thamizhar Katchi, a regional party, who immolated himself yesterday during a demonstration succumbed to injuries today.

DMK treasurer and Leader of Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, MK Stalin was arrested during a demonstration at the Egmore railway station. Opposition party leaders also courted arrest as they resorted to road and rail roko agitations in various parts of Tamil Nadu.

The agitation was organised to demand Tamil Nadu’s fair share in the Cauvery waters from neighbouring Karnataka, and to protest the violence unleashed there targeting Tamils and their businesses on Monday.

What had triggered the violence in Karnataka was a Supreme Court order directing Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu, which had petitioned the court citing inadequate irrigation water for crops.

In the violence that followed, private and commercial vehicles bearing Tamil Nadu registration plates were damaged or burnt and over 40 buses belonging to a private transport operator based in Salem were torched in a depot near Bengaluru. Following widespread violence the Karnataka government imposed curfew in parts of the city and enforced Section 144 to prevent people from gathering in large numbers.

There were also sporadic instances of violence in Tamil Nadu targeting businesses run by persons of Karnataka origin.

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