BENGALURU: The state capital came to a near-complete halt during the Karnataka bandh today with private offices, commercial establishments, schools and colleges remaining closed. This comes close on the heels of the Bengaluru bandh observed only on Tuesday. The police were out in full force to prevent any untoward incident.
The bandh was called to protest against the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu on the directive of the Cauvery Water Management Commission (CWRC).
Public transport was majorly affected with taxis and most autorickshaws keeping off the roads, whereas the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) ran its services. But there were very few passengers at both the Kempegowda bus station at Majestic and the Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna City Railway Station. The Metro stations too were empty.
While many companies, all schools and colleges had declared a holiday, some private vehicles could be seen on the roads. Some autorickshaws were also seen plying while essential services like milk booths, grocery and medical stores, health care facilities, etc, remained open.
All IT firms in Electronics City, the tech hub of the city, were shut. The area, which is usually bustling with techies, wore a deserted look with the toll plaza at Attibele was also empty.
Activists of the Shivarame Gowda faction of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike held at protest at Solur in Anekal taluk and blocked traffic on the highway by burning tyres.
At the Attibele border post, Jaya Karnataka and Kannada Jagruti Vedike activists were detained when they tried to block the highway. Attibele observed a complete bandh even as the police were on high alert. However, there was partial response in Anekal with the state’s biggest fruit market at Singena Agrahara conducting business as usual.
In KR Puram, except for the flower market, there was a near-complete bandh with only a handful of people out on the roads. The Hoskote bus station, which is usually bustling with people, also wore a deserted look.
The commercial hub of Chickpet and surrounding areas were completely shut with only a handful of people seen on the roads. The busy KR Market saw some business activity early in the morning, but with no people coming, the place wore a deserted look later on. The over 60 malls in the city also remained closed.
Kannada activists smashed the window of a BMTC bus near Town Hall when the police were detaining them. In Malleswaram, activists got into an argument with the police when they tried to hold a mock final rites of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin. Protests were also held near the Satellite Bus Station, Rajajinagar and several other parts of the city.
Senior officials and depot managers of the transport utility apparently directed the drivers and conductors not to take the buses out of the depots though the staff had turned up for work. The drivers and conductors were allegedly advised to apply for leave.
The drivers and conductors said action had been taken against them for taking leave during the Bengaluru bandh on Tuesday and hence, they had turned up for work today. But they were not being allotted routes, they charged. Though there were skeletal services, many buses remained stationed at several depots across the city.