A day for the Cauvery farmer: Bengaluru on pause

Friday’s bandh could be intense because of the gravity of the Cauvery crisis. A massive outpouring of sympathy for the farmer who will have to bear the brunt of the decision to release water to Tamil Nadu is already there to see. Trade losses may run into thousand of crores, life could come to a standstill but this is a small sacrifice for the hapless raytaru. DC analyses the bandh impact

On Friday, Bengaluru will turn into a fortress with unprecedented deployment of local, state and central police forces. Central police forces will be deployed with four companies of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), two companies of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and two companies of Rapid Action Force (RAF) in action.

Besides the police deployment made in Mysuru, KRS Dam, Mandya, Kabini, the same number of police personnel will be deployed on Friday as they are anticipating trouble from antisocial elements.

The city and state police  made preventive arrests through the night on Thursday-Friday all over the state. The DGP has requested two KSRP platoons from Kerala, which will be deployed at the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border and also one state reserve police force platoon from Andhra Pradesh, which will be deployed in north Karnataka districts. Police officials expect those who had taken part in the Mahadayi protests to join hands with Cauvery agitators on Friday.

The city police commissioner, N.S. Megharikh, said on Thursday that foolproof security arrangements have been made in the city following the bandh call and the Ganesha festival to make sure no untoward incidents happen. More security personnel have been deployed at sensitive areas across the city including Shivajinagar and Tannery Road, which have a substantial Tamil population.

The city police have deployed 36 Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) platoons, 30 City Armed Reserves (CAR) platoons and 1,000 Home Guards, along with 16,000 police personnel, for the bandobust, which will be supervised by 16 DCPs, 21 ACPs, 105 police inspectors, 177 sub-inspectors, 327 assistant sub-inspectors, 929 head constables and 1976 police constables. In addition, 260 Hoysalas vehicles will be patrolling to make sure no untoward incident happens. A water jet along with special Rural Intervention Vehicles (RIV) vehicles will be deployed to deal with any untoward incident, a senior police officer added.

Shorter vacation for schools?
D Shashi Kumar, general secretary of Karnataka Associated Managements of English-Medium schools said, "As of now, we have instructed schools to make the next 4 Saturdays full working days. We have not decided about the Dasara vacation. If the bandh continues, then we will have to reduce the vacation by 3 to 5 days," he said.

Some schools seem to be better prepared when such situations arise. The Inventure academy had already set two buffer days before the academic year, for  any potential bandh that might occur.

"Bandhs have become a reality of life, so we planned for it in advance. We also plan to work on the following Saturday. On Sept. 17, the children of grades 6 to 12 will have to miss their inter-house swimming meet and attend classes. It is not just about academics, we will also have to make up for the lost sports activities, community outreach, life skills and other extra curricular activities," said Nooraine Fazal, CEO and Managing Trustee of Inventure Academy.

Theatre group to head to KRS Dam
A group of 20 theatre artistes of a prominent theatre forum in Bengaluru will be carrying out a 'cultural jatha' starting from Ravindra Kalakshetra until KRS Dam in Mysuru, where they will be performing street plays on the issue at various places between Bengaluru and Mysuru.

The group will start from Ravindra Kalakshetra at 9 am and reach Kengeri at 11 am where they will perform a street play after joining hands with other organisations and proceed towards Bidadi, Ramnagara, Channapatna, Maddur, Mandya and KRS Dam in Mysuru.

At these places the theatre artistes will perform street plays in the hopes of registering a protest against the careless and inefficient manner in which both the state and central governments have handled the issue.

"The issue here is not just about water, but about much deeper questions facing  Indian society. This is about globalization, neglect of the agricultural sector, inefficient natural resource management and a general apathy towards rural India," said T.H. Lavakumar, an organiser.

Weekend trip out, has tourism taken a hit ?
“I am not really sure about the weekend holiday. Probably this weekend we won't venture further than a long drive," said Girish Ahuja, a 34-year-old nature lover. He works at an MNC in Whitefield.

Friday’s Bandh seems to ring in bad news for the city's tired IT crowd and also the tourism sector, which normally does good business during weekends.
"We had a booking at a resort in Kabini, but we will either cancel or postpone it to Saturday," said Shreevathsa. "Many people are postponing their bookings to Saturday now," said the Manager of  Orange County at Kabini.

The manager of another luxury beach resort on Malpe Beach stated that two bookings were cancelled on Wednesday evening. The working population in the city, which mostly relies on long weekends to ease stress has had to postpone this weekend's plan because of the Cauvery row.

"I had booked a cottage at Chitravana Resorts in Mysuru for our anniversary, but sadly, we are not sure whether we should continue with the plan or not. Also, last week as my friends were coming back to the city on Monday, they were caught in a massive traffic jam at the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway, because of  protests. Now this situation has come up," says  Gautham wryly. He adds that they may book a flight to his wife's hometown.

Only recently, because of the strike, the Mandya police had come up with a plan to help commuters affected by the bandh called by pro-Kannada outfits over the Cauvery row.

Protesters had disrupted traffic on the Bengaluru-Mysuru state highway and blocked several roads. "We do not want to be stuck in such a situation," sums up Gautham.

No buses, metro, brace for total shutdown
The Bandh will be observed from 6.00 am to 6.00 pm today (Friday). Government offices will remain officially open, but employee strength will be negligible due to the transport strike. Post 6.00 pm, all services will resume as usual, including buses, which will start plying.

Bengalureans are bracing themselves for a complete shutdown on Friday as over 800 pro-Kannada organizations have called for a bandh over the Cauvery tribunal verdict, with over 1400 trade, industries, and other organizations extending their wholehearted support.  Except for essential services such as ambulances, hospitals and milk supply, all other establishments and industries will shut shop for 12 hours on Friday.

Several organizations and industries like the film fraternity, advocates’ associations, trade union associations, BMTC, KSRTC, Metro, IT companies, private cabs including airport taxis, auto drivers’ unions, lorry and truck owners and drivers associations, banks, schools colleges, have extended their full-fledged support to the  bandh on Friday to protest  against release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

Medical shops to join stir
This time around, even pharmacists have pledged their support for the bandh. Around 1,800 pharmacists across the state have decided to close their shops. However pharmacies located inside the hospitals will remain open.

Film fraternity backs bandh
The Sandalwood film fraternity in the state pledged their support for the bandh on Friday, organising a protest before the Karnataka Film Chamber Of Commerce building and also by postponing their shoots (films and serials), events and other functions that have been scheduled for Friday throughout the state. There will also be no shows of any films in any theaters on Friday.

Petrol bunks to remain closed
As many as 3800 fuel bunks, including 460 in Bengaluru, will not operate between 6 am to 6 pm on Friday, said BR Ravindranath, president, Karnataka Petrol Bunk Owners Association.

KSRTC services partial
KSRTC bus services will be infrequent, depending on the law and order situation on Friday, a senior official said. “We had stopped bus services on Thursday until 3.00 pm, towards Mandya, Mysore and Chamrajnagar, but resumed services by evening, but on Friday, since it’s a bandh day, it is doubtful,” he added. Night services on Thursday night and Friday night will be as usual.

No BMTC services
BMTC bus services will be suspended from 6.00 am until 6.00 pm on Friday because of the law and order situation. Buses will resume services after 6.00 pm.

No metro trains
“In view of the Karnataka Bandh call given by various organisations and in view of the highly emotional nature of the issue, in the interest of safety of the commuters and the metro system, it has been decided to temporarily suspend metro operations on September 9. The station controllers have been authorized to keep a watch on the situation and resume services when the conditions are conducive,” stated a release from Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL).

Railway services on
“Railways will continue their operations unless there are any incidents of ‘rail roko’ protests by any activist groups,” said an officer from the railways.

Airport to function
Airport will be operational as usual but passengers have to be concerned about transport options. “Airliners have been augmenting the staff at the airport.”

Cabs, autos, off roads
“All the Bangalore Tourist Taxi Owners’ Associations have decided to take part in the strike. We request all the companies to make their own arrangements or alternative services for their respective requirements between 6am to 6pm,” said K Radhakrishna Holla, President, Bangalore Tourist Taxi Owners’ Association.
Around one lakh auto-rickshaws will be off roads on Friday, said AST Arasu, president Bengaluru Auto Drivers’ Association.