B'luru to halt today for Cauvery water, state bandh on Friday

Bengaluru: Protesting against the release of Cauvery water to neighbouring Tamil Nadu, various organisations have called for two bandhs in the state, as the ruling Congress asserted to more "forcefully" present Karnataka's case in the Supreme Court and assured it will not curtail the planned agitations over the interstate river dispute.

While one protest is scheduled to be held here on Tuesday, the other one, a state-wide agitation, is on September 29.

Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda urged PM Narendra Modi to to direct the Jal Shakti Ministry to appoint an external agency to conduct studies of all reservoirs in the Cauvery basin.

He also stressed the need to have an appropriate distress formula applicable to all the states concerned in such conditions.

The announcement for the Karnataka bandh on September 29 was made on Monday, under the banner 'Kannada Okkuta' led by Kannada activist Vatal Nagaraj, days after the 'Karnataka Jala Samrakshana Samiti', an umbrella outfit of farmers' associations and other organisations led by farmer leader Kuruburu Shanthakumar gave the call for Tuesday's Bengaluru shutdown.

The two bandhs reflect the divide among the farmers and pro-Kannada organisations, and has also now led to a confusion about who is supporting the bandh on which day, and whether services will be available tomorrow.

While Shanthakumar has said they will go ahead with the Bengaluru bandh on Tuesday, Nagaraj, who has called for a state-wide shutdown on Friday, made it clear the Kannada Okkuta is not supporting tomorrow's bandh.

Shanthakumar said they have received support from a number of organisations for their bandh call tomorrow and will go ahead with it.

"We will come in a protest to Bengaluru's Freedom Park and stage a demonstration there with our demands. The state government, the chief minister, will have to receive our memorandum. If there is no proper response to our protest from the government, we will decide on our further course of action," he said.

Nagaraj said they had asked 'Karnataka Jala Samrakshana Samiti' to postpone their bandh call and to observe it together with them on September 29.

JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy said his party would support tomorrow's protest. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said his government will not curtail the protests, but underlined the importance of maintenance of peace.

Schools, colleges to remain closed

Bengaluru Urban district Deputy Commissioner Dayananda K A has declared a holiday for all schools and colleges in the city on Tuesday, in the interest of students in the wake of the bandh call.

Most private schools and colleges across the city had already declared a holiday for students tomorrow.

No room for a forced bandh: City police chief

City Police Commissioner B Dayananda clarified that there is no room for a forced bandh on Tuesday. He added that there is only provision for a peaceful protest at Freedom Park in Bengaluru.

The police has also imposed CrPC Section 144 restricting the assembly of five or more people.

The top cop warned of stringent action against anyone involved in untoward incidents such as stone pelting or damaging public property. Over 10,000 policemen have been deployed for security around the city

Bus services to be hit

Ola-Uber Drivers' Association said they would extend full support for the September 29 Karnataka bandh called by pro-Kannada organisations but will not support tomorrow's bandh.

Associations and unions operating autos and taxis have extended their complete support for tomorrow's bandh call. KSRTC Staff and Workers' Federation too had asked BMTC staff not to bring out any buses from depots from dawn to dusk (6 am to 6 pm). (PTI)