Buses went off the roads, shops were shut and life came to a standstill in Tamil Nadu as Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) launched its pre-planned shutdown across the state on Thursday.

Protesting the failure of the Centre in forming the Cauvery Management Board (CMB), members of the DMK – which is the main opposition party in the state – came out on the streets from Chennai to Coimbatore waving flags and raising slogans.

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Buses from Karnataka were stopped at Tamil Nadu border, though some state-run buses were seen plying in Trichy.

Hosur and Chennai were the worst affected due to the shutdown.

Trade unions, too, have joined the bandh. In Chennai, shops have been reportedly shut which has led to some inconvenience for the people.

Heavy police force has been deployed in many parts of the state. Reports say that Section 144 has been imposed in Chennai’s Marina Beach area to prevent any gathering of the intensity witnessed in the Jallikattu protests.

DMK working president MK Stalin had on 1 April said that the party along with other opposition parties will observe a bandh on 5 April. He was subsequently detained for protesting against the Centre and the state government over the Cauvery water sharing issue and the formation of the Board.

“We have begun a struggle in Chennai with the party leaders and volunteers to condemn the Centre and state governments. Our struggle will not stop until the Cauvery Management Board is formed,” he had said.

The parties also agreed to hold black flag demonstrations whenever Prime Minister Narendra Modi or any member of his Cabinet visits Tamil Nadu. Modi is reportedly expected to visit on 15 April.

The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has been facing criticism from most opposition parties over the manner in which it handled the CMB issue. The opposition parties accuse the AIADMK government led by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami of not doing enough to make the Centre adhere to the 16 February Supreme Court order over the formation of the Board.

AIADMK, on the other hand, has lambasted the DMK and other parties of “betraying” the cause.

At a hunger strike on 3 April, Tamil Nadu deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam attacked the DMK and Congress claiming that they have no “moral right” to talk about the Cauvery water issue.

“DMK and Congress have no moral right to talk about the Cauvery problem. It is the DMK which has betrayed the Cauvery cause,” he said at a hunger strike called by members of his party in Chennai.

Accusing DMK of trying to use the issue for “political gain”, Panneerselvam said that the people of the state will not forget party matriarch Jayalalithaa’s contribution to the Cauvery cause.

The issue has set in motion a political game of one-upmanship in Tamil Nadu. While the DMK and the AIADMK accuse each other over the issue, Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) chief TTV Dinakaran, too, has been protesting over the issue.

On Tuesday, he was detained in Trichy as he allegedly attempted to gherao the Trichy International Airport with leaders from his party.

Kamal Haasan, president of Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), has been speaking on the issue accusing the state government of failing to make the Centre form the Board, which he says is a “basic necessity”.

In spite of the apex court, the Centre failed to form the Board by 29 March at the end of the six-week deadline given to it.

On Saturday, the Tamil Nadu government filed a contempt petition against the Centre accusing it of “wilful disobedience” and deliberate delaying of the implementation of the Supreme Court order. But the Centre, too, had moved the apex court on Friday to seek a clarification and asking for three months for implementing its judgment in view of the May assembly elections in Karnataka.

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear the contempt petition filed by the Tamil Nadu government against the Centre over the non-formation of the Cauvery Management Board (CMB). The apex court will hear the petition on 9 April.

The Judgment

In its judgment on 16 February, the Supreme Court reduced Tamil Nadu’s share of Cauvery water and increased Karnataka’s share.

The apex court directed the Karnataka government to release 177.25 tmcft of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu from its inter-state Biligundlu dam.

The Supreme Court raised the 270 tmcft share of Cauvery water for Karnataka by 14.75 tmcft and reduced Tamil Nadu’s share while compensating it by allowing extraction of 10 tmcft groundwater from the river basin, saying the issue of drinking water has to be placed on a “higher pedestal”.

The CMB, once formed, is expected to take control of the dams across river Cauvery through which it will distribute waters to Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry according to the formula of the Cauvery tribunal.

Tamil Nadu has been demanding creation of the board so that it can be granted the power to open up reservoirs instead of the Karnataka government.