Pro-Kannada organisations, who have called for a bandh in Bengaluru on Tuesday, September 26, have urged people to join their protest rally or to sit at home and support the shutdown. The bandh has been called to protest against Karnataka releasing Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. According to Shanthakumar, president of Karnataka State Sugarcane Growers' Association, more than 100 organisations have supported the bandh. The protest rally is set to commence in Bengaluru's Town Hall at 11 am, culminating at Freedom Park. “We would like to warn the state government that messing with Cauvery won’t result well. We also urge the people to participate peacefully,” he said.
Karnataka Aam Aadmi Party Chief Chandru said that they decided to support the bandh promptly. "We may represent various political parties, but we should remember that Cauvery isn't a political issue," Chandru asserted.
Read: Bengaluru bandh on September 26: Here are the reasons why
Responding to former MLA Vatal Nagaraj calling for a Karnataka state-wide bandh on Friday, September 29, Shanthakumar said that they would decide their support for it after the Bengaluru bandh. “We had reached out to Vatal Nagaraj but he never said he was against the Bengaluru bandh. We will decide about our participation in the Karnataka bandh on September 25.”
Schools affiliated with the Registered Unaided Private Schools Management Association (RUPSA) have announced a holiday on September 26. The Associated Management of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka (KAMS) has expressed solidarity with the bandh, although a decision regarding school closures is still pending.
The operations of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) will also be disrupted due to the participation of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC)-backed staff in the bandh.
The prolonged disagreement regarding the allocation of Cauvery River water between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu has persisted for decades. The current call for a bandh originates from a recent directive by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT), instructing the Karnataka government to continue releasing 5,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for an additional 15 days.
Read: Karnataka bandh on September 29: Activists say will block national highways, airport
The Karnataka government asserts that there is presently no surplus water available for transfer to Tamil Nadu. Just last month, the Karnataka government advised farmers in the Cauvery basin to temporarily halt their sowing activities, citing concerns about insufficient water reserves for irrigation. As of August 16, the state had reported a rainfall deficit of 14%.
Simultaneously, the Tamil Nadu government has approached the Supreme Court, urging the Karnataka government to release 7,200 cusecs of water daily from Karnataka's reservoirs. Senior advocate Mukul Rohtagi, representing Tamil Nadu, argued that the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) arbitrarily reduced the allocation to 5,000 cusecs per day, instead of the recommended 7,200 cusecs per day, given the prevailing circumstances as per the CWRC. Conversely, senior advocate Shyam Divan, representing Karnataka, contended that the CWMA should not have mandated the release of more than 3,000 cusecs per day from Karnataka's dams. Divan emphasized that the state is grappling with a shortage of both drinking water and irrigation resources, underscoring, "This issue of drinking water is of paramount importance. While Tamil Nadu primarily requires it for irrigation, for Karnataka, it serves both as drinking water and for irrigation purposes."