Karnataka treads cautiously on Cauvery

Technology companies function as usual in Bangalore; state bandh on Feb 12.

It was business as usual in Bangalore and many other parts of Karnataka even as protests against the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal's final award continued on Tuesday.

The day was marked by stray protests by farmers and Kannada activists throughout the state but no violence was reported.

Thousands of people, including farmers and workers, resumed blocking the Bangalore-Mysore highway and several roads in Mandya, Mysore and Chamarajanagar districts in protest against the verdict. The protestors used huge boulders, burning tyres, tractors and bullock carts to block the Bangalore-Hassan and Bangalore-Tumkur highways, sources said.

According to Karnataka additional DGP (law & order) Shankar Bidri, traffic on the busy Bangalore-Mysore highway came to a halt with the police diverting state road transport buses, private vehicles and trucks to the old Kanakapura road.

Bus services to the neighbouring Tamil Nadu was also suspended. However, buses are plying up to the border districts of Tamil Nadu.

Consequently, there was a heavy rush for rail tickets between Bangalore and Mysore. Train services between Bangalore and Mysore also remained normal. But some train services in the southern parts of the state were affected with agitators squatting on the tracks at several stations between Bangalore-Tumkur.

However, traffic was not disrupted in Bangalore city. The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation operated skeletal bus services to Mysore, while the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation operated normally in the city and outskirts.

Several IT firms and private offices, though functioning normally, have reported a drop in attendance. Essential services and supply of commodities, however, remained normal. Shops and business establishments in the central business district have decided to open late depending on the situation.

Cable operators have continued to block Tamil channels in the city fearing attacks by Kannada activists. News and entertainment channels, which were also blacked out on Monday, resumed this morning. Cinema theatres showing Tamil films in the city have decided to remain shut till this weekend.

"In Bangalore, though the situation is under control, there is an uneasy calm in the sensitive areas where there is a large Tamil-speaking population. Police picketing and patrolling have been intensified to prevent any untoward incident. There have been no reports of violence so far," Bangalore police commissioner N Achut Rao said.

Sources said Pandavapura, Malavalli and Keregodu areas observed a bandh but the overall situation in the district remained peaceful. Educational institutions remained closed in the Cauvery basin districts in Karnataka today as a precautionary measure.

Vatal Paksha leader and legislator Vatal Nagaraj and various other Kannada organisations, which had given a bandh call on February 8, have put it off to February 12, following the request from Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy due to the ongoing Aero India show that will conclude on February 11.

Meanwhile, an all party meet convened by the chief minister today to discuss the fallout of the tribunal verdict has been put off to tomorrow following the non-availability of Congress leaders who had to rush to Mangalore to attend the last rites of sitting MLA U T Fareed, who died earlier in the day.

Karnataka home minister M P Prakash told reporters the government was still awaiting the full details of the final order of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal and it would need some more time to go through it.

He said that one company each of central forces from Kerala and Andhra Pradesh reached the state this afternoon.

Forcible closure of shops and business establishments was reported in some parts of Bangalore and Mysore. Activists of Kannada Rakshana Vedike staged demonstrations in several parts of the city, Mysore and Mandya and disrupted movement of vehicle for some time, the police said.

In Malleswaram, Rajajinagar and Majestic areas of Bangalore in busy junctions Vedike activists forced closure of shops. In some areas traders voluntarily shut their shops. Lawyers have also joined the protest against the verdict and sought a review of the final award.