Cauvery issue: Karnataka bandh may affect normal life

BANGALURU: Normal life is likely to be affected, especially in the southern part of the state, with pro-Kannada and farmers' organisations calling for Karnataka Bandh' to protest the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu today.

Kannada Okkuta', an umbrella organisation for Kannada outfits including factions of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, Kannada Chalavali (Vatal Paksha) and various farmers' bodies have given a call for the statewide dawn-to-dusk shutdown.

There will be a massive protest procession from Town Hall to Freedom Park in the city, in which people from all walks of life are likely to participate, the organisers said.

They have said that the bandh is for the entire Karnataka and that they will try to shut highways, toll gates, rail services, and also airports.

The opposition BJP and JD(S) too have extended their support to the bandh, as also hotels, autorickshaws and hail riders associations in Karnataka.

"Autorickshaw Drivers' Union and Ola Uber Drivers and Owners' Association (OUDOA) are supporting the bandh. We will take out a rally from Nayandahalli to the Freedom Park tomorrow," its president Tanveer Pasha said.

An office bearer of the Karnataka State Private Schools' Association said that they were extending moral support' to the bandh.

"We have told our association members to use their discretion regarding the bandh. We have communicated to our students that there are chances of schools remaining shut," the office-bearer said.

The Bruhath Bangaluru Hotel Association has extended its 'moral support' to the strike. They were holding a meeting to decide on whether to keep the restaurants shut today.