Cauvery water dispute: Lakhs of commuters bound for Tamil Nadu, Mysuru, stranded

Bengaluru: Lakhs of commuters were stranded in various parts of the city when bus services headed towards Mysuru and Tamil Nadu were cancelled following the Cauvery tension. The situation is expected to continue till the weekend. The only relief for travellers was that train services were intact.

According to the KSRTC officials, from as early as 4.30 am itself they cancelled all the services towards Mysuru, Mandya and Tamil Nadu, including Ooty. "Around 700 buses plied on these routes. But due to the fear of violence we did not operate any schedules," said an officer from KSRTC.

According to the officials, a Rajahamsa bus belonging to KSRTC was attacked near Tanjavoor around 6.30 am. "All the buses were parked safely,” he informed.
Meanwhile, TN Road Transport Corporation also did not operate any of its schedules to Karnataka. As a result thousands of passengers were stuck in various bus terminuses all over the city.

No private buses: Normally, it’s the hundreds of private buses that provide bus facilities between various smaller towns of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
But on Tuesday none of these buses came out on the roads for fear of violence.
Passengers stuck: Those poor passengers who were unaware of the bus cancellations, suffered the most.

Mysore Road Satellite Bus Terminus was the focal point from where KSRTC operated hundreds of buses towards Mysuru, Mandya, Coorg etc. A large number of people were found waiting for buses in the bus terminus.

At Shanthinagar bus terminus too, thousands of passengers were stuck. "I had booked a ticket in advance in a private bus. But the bus operator canceled the trip, saying violence was being reported in different parts," said Sunil Adiga, who is working in an MNC in Chennai.

Kannada activists call for bandh on Friday
After Mahadayi and Trade Union strike, now brace for yet another bandh. This time it is in protest against Supreme Court’s direction to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

Various Kannada organisations have called for Karnataka bandh on Friday, September 9, the second one this month. On September 2 the state was shut down as part of national strike called by various trade unions in protest against anti-labour policies.

Announcing the bandh, Kannada activist and former MLA Vatal Nagaraj said they have called for the bandh to ‘open the eyes' of union government and Supreme Court to the problems faced by the people living near Cauvery river basin.

“There is no water in the KRS dam. People of Bengaluru, Mysuru and other cities of Cauvery belt are facing even drinking water shortage. At this juncture, SC direction may create more problem for the people in state,” he said.

The Kannada activists said Bengaluru city will be shut down between 6 am and 6 pm on Friday. “Our target is disrupting airport services, shutting down the IT companies and railway services,” said an activist. “Originally it was decided to call bandh on September 10, but to ensure it had a greater impact the bandh was advanced to Friday,” he explained.

Twitterati angry
However, Nagaraj’s call for bandh evoked angry reaction in the social media with many city residents condemning the move. On Twitter Gautham Machaiah remarked that instead of calling for a bandh on Cauvery, Vatal Nagaraj should protest against timber smuggling in Coorg, which has led to deficit rainfall. Another user Karthik Adiga tweeted that Karnataka was slowly turning into west Bengal. Bandh for everything!

Former spokesperson of state BJP unit Prakash Sesharaghavachar observed that Supreme Court should initiate suo motu action against Nagaraj for calling bandh against its judgment.

"He is exceeding his limits and blackmailing state on the pretext of Cauvery issue. Enough of his nuisance though has no strength of his own he is making best use of the sentiments to set his agenda Every Kannadiga is distraught with the SC judgement and feel cheated but it doesn't permit us to shut the state at frequent intervals and create hardship to millions," he said.