Bengaluru, Aug 13:
The Karnataka bandh called by pro-Kannada activist Vatal Nagaraj on Thursday against the Cauvery water release to Tamil Nadu evoked mixed response, with intense protests in Mandya and preventive detentions at several places, while life remained unaffected in major urban centers like Bengaluru and Mysuru as organisations that had backed the agitation initially, later withdrew support.
The bandh was called by the Federation of Kannada organisations led by activist Vatal Nagaraj, in protest against the directions of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) and the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) to release 12,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu.
The call lost some momentum after several Kannada organisations withdrew their support. Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said that some activists, including Praveen Shetty and Sa Ra Govindu, had met him and informed him that they were withdrawing the bandh call.
“They have said that they are withdrawing the call, which is very happy news. I congratulate them and thank them for it,” Shivakumar told reporters.
Nagaraj was taken into preventive custody from his residence in Bengaluru before he could join the planned protests. Police took Nagaraj into custody from his residence in Dollars Colony in the city after he refused to come out.
He had reportedly planned a rally from the BMTC-KSRTC bus stand to Town Hall and then to Freedom Park, where a protest was to be held.
Nagaraj sat inside his house with his mouth gagged as a mark of silent protest and told police that he would not speak to them or participate in the rally.
Protesters urged the Karnataka government not to release any further water, citing the state’s own drinking-water and agricultural requirements.
In Mandya, the epicentre of the Cauvery agitation, farmers and pro-Kannada organisations staged protests at Sanjay Circle and other locations. Protesters carried empty pots and horse gram, shouting slogans such as “our water, our right,” and blocked the Bengaluru-Mysuru old highway.
The horse gram was used as a symbol of the alternative crop farmers may be forced to grow instead of paddy because of the lack of water. One protester appealed to the government to not release even a drop of water to Tamil Nadu and urged it to defy the CWRC and CWMA orders.