Bengaluru Bandh tomorrow: Section 144 to be imposed; schools, colleges shut

Bengaluru is expected to be completely shut down on Tuesday as farmers’ organisations, Kannada organizations and opposition parties have called for a ‘Bandh’ in the city to protest the release of water from the Cauvery river in Karnataka to neighboring Tamil Nadu.

Bengaluru Urban District Collector KA Dayanand has announced a holiday for all schools and colleges in the city in view of the Bandh.

Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda said Section 144 will be imposed in the city, under which gatherings of more than five people are not allowed.

Meanwhile, protests have been planned at Freedom Park, Raj Bhawan and TownHall by pro Kannada organisations. However, the police commissioner warned that protests would only be allowed in Freedom Park.

Taxis operate as usual in the city. Ola Uber Drivers and Owners Association president Tanveer Pasha said services from Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation, Ola and Uber will be as usual.

However, restaurants in the city will remain closed, president Bangalore Hoteliers Association PC Rao said.

“It is our duty, we also support the Karnataka bandh called tomorrow (by pro-Kannada organisations) as we have not been getting justice for years,” PC Rao said.

Meanwhile, airline Vistara issued a travel update asking its travelers to plan their journeys to and from the airport carefully as private transport could be disrupted.

“Due to ‘Bengaluru Bandh’ on September 26, 2023, private transportation may be disrupted. Customers traveling from Bangalore are advised to allow more time for their journey to the airport,” the airline said in a message on ‘X’.

Speaking about the Bandh, BJP leader CT Ravi said, “Today our State Party leader and BS Yediyurappa extended their support. We will support it and with that we will also protest in front of the Gandhi statue.”

Meanwhile, amid the ongoing Cauvery river water sharing dispute with Tamil Nadu, Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) MP HD Deve Gowda in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asked a team of experts to address the situation of water and standing crops in India. Karnataka.

“I have appealed to the Prime Minister about the prevailing situation. In my letter to the Prime Minister, I wrote that the Jal Shakti department should file a review petition and an expert committee should be sent to Karnataka to study the water and standing crop. I have asked the same to the vice president of the country,” the ex-prime minister said in a joint press conference with JD(S) leader and former CM HD Kumaraswamy.

The JD(S) supremo further said that his party is here ‘to save the people’ of the state.

“I don’t want to talk about alliances and other issues at this time. I am only talking about Cauvery. I don’t want to say anything about the bandh that will be called tomorrow. I don’t live for politics or power. I am here to save the people of the state. My party exists for this purpose. I cried when I spoke about Cauvery in Parliament,” he added.