Cauvery row: Bengaluru bandh tomorrow, statewide shutdown on Friday

Amid ongoing protests across Karnataka against releasing Cauvery River water to neighbouring Tamil Nadu two bandhs have been called this week in Bengaluru tomorrow and statewide on FridayThe 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 Tuesdays Bengaluru shutdownThe two bandhs reflect the divide among the farmers and proKannada organisations and have also now led to confusion about who is supporting the bandh on which day and whether services will be available tomorrowWhile Shanthakumar has said that they will go ahead with the Bengaluru bandh on Tuesday Vatal Nagaraj who has called for a state bandh on Friday made it clear that Kannada Okkuta is not supporting tomorrows bandhShanthakumar said they have received support from a number of organisations for their bandh call tomorrow and will go ahead with itWe will come in a protest to Bengalurus 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 saidCalling for a peaceful bandh he also appealed to the police to take adequate measures to ensure there are no untoward incidentsVatal Nagaraj said they had asked Karnataka Jala Samrakshana Samiti to postpone their bandh call and to observe it together with them on September 29What we have called is Akhanda Karnataka bandh entire Karnataka bandh on September 29 It will be observed across the state without leaving any district Our fight is for entire Karnataka Kannada Okkuta has organised more than 50 bandhs in the whole state so far he said as he questioned why the bandh was called by others only for BengaluruMeanwhile OlaUber Drivers Association today said they would extend full support for the September 29 Karnataka bandh called by proKannada organisations but will not support tomorrows bandhTomorrow our services will be normal This decision was taken in a meeting held today in the presence of proKannada and various organisations the association in a statement said adding that drivers are in the midst of financial difficulties and they are of the opinion that they cannot afford to lose two days of workThe Hotel Owners Association too has decided to withdraw support for the bandh tomorrow citing confusion and said all hotels and restaurants will be openHowever associations and unions operating autos and taxis have extended their complete support for tomorrows bandh call and KSRTC Staff and Workers Federation too had asked Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation BMTC staff not to bring out any buses from depots from dawn to dusk 6 am to 6 pmMetro services are likely to be unaffected by the bandh call and would continue to function as usualMost private schools and colleges across the state have already declared a holiday in the wake of the Bengaluru bandh tomorrowJDS leader H D Kumaraswamy said his party would support tomorrows bandh I have asked my party workers to support the bandh Our workers will support There should be no chance for any untoward incident he saidDeputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar also said that the people have the right to protest but that there should be no violence Addressing media in Bengaluru he said protest is everyones right in a democracy and it will not be curtailedOur party people too called and spoke to me about the protest I said its your right and protect itbut one has to understand about court orders before calling for protests or bandh just giving such calls for media publicity is not right as such calls may have legal repercussions he said adding that keeping everything in mind let them decideIf the public doesnt cooperate the bandh will not have any value said Shivakumar citing alleged lack of consensus among the organisations on the bandh call and two bandhs being called The government will not interfere in itCity police are taking all adequate security measures to ensure that no untoward incident takes place officials saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever