A dawn-to-dusk Karnataka bandh called by pro-Kannada outfits today to protest against the Supreme Court’s direction to release Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu is likely to throw normal life out of gear.
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Pro-Kannada organisation activists perform the “final rites” of the Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalitha and Karnataka Water Resources Minister M B Patil in protest against the Supreme Court verdict on Cauvery water, in Bengaluru on Thursday. Public transport may be affected as state transport buses will stay off the roads, and autorickshaw and cab unions are extending their support to bandh.
State-run Bengaluru metro rail corporation, which operates on the east-west corridor, also suspended service but may resume late evening if normalcy prevails.
People who reached the city from distant places and those travelling towards the airport are facing difficulties in reaching their destination with no mode of connectivity.
Acting on the lack of transportation, educational institutions declared Friday a holiday and will remain closed for the day. Though government offices are open, attendance is thin because of the absence of public transport.
With Karnataka Cable Operators Association supporting the band, the Tamil channels will be off air.
Other than Bengaluru, other parts of Karnataka are also experiencing the effects of the bandh including Mandya, Mysuru, Ballari, Koppala, Chikkaballapura, Dharwad and Kolar.
In Mandya, members of the Kasturi Karnataka Janapara Vedike are protesting with have blocked the National Highway, reported The NewsMinute.
In Ballari, three lorries bearing Tamil Nadu registrations were stoned by protesters.
“The Congress appreciates chief minister Siddaramaiah’s move to consistently take the opposition parties into confidence at every step and to leave the decision-making to the State’s legal team headed by Fali Nariman”, he added.
As many as 60,000 policemen along with Central Paramilitary Force personnel have been deployed. “How can the state government release our water to grow crops in the neighbouring state when we don’t have enough of it for drinking purposes this year?”
Siddaramaih pointed out that at an all-party meeting held on Tuesday last, the views of the political parties including BJP in the state, was that the order of the Supreme Court ought not to be implemented.
Bowing to the apex court’s Monday order, the state began releasing 15,000 cusecs of water daily from early Wednesday from its reservoirs across the river basin for 10 days amid protests and demonstrations by farmers, traders and the youth in the Mysuru region.
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He said “We have solidarity with our Cauvery basin farmers”.
