Pro-Kannada outfits call Karnataka bandh on August 13 over Cauvery water release to Tamil Nadu

Pro-Kannada organisations on Friday called for a statewide bandh on August 13 to protest the Cauvery Water Management Authority's (CWMA) direction to Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu for 15 days.

The bandh call was announced by pro-Kannada activist Vatal Nagaraj after a meeting of various pro-Kannada organisations in Bengaluru to chalk out the next phase of their agitation against the water release order.

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The bandh comes amid renewed tensions over the Cauvery dispute, which has repeatedly triggered protests in Karnataka whenever issues relating to water sharing with Tamil Nadu have resurfaced. Similar protests in the past have disrupted normal life in Bengaluru and several districts, with transport services, schools and businesses affected.

Addressing a press conference, Nagaraj said the bandh would be observed from 6 am to 6 pm across the state.

He appealed to the public to extend their support to the shutdown. "Let us all make Karnataka Bandh a grand success from Belagavi to Chamarajanagar," he said.

Nagaraj also criticised political parties for, in his view, attempting to derive political mileage from the Cauvery issue.

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The organisations opposed the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, arguing that Karnataka is itself grappling with water scarcity and that complying with the order would further strain water availability for farmers across the state.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has convened an all-party meeting at 11 am on Sunday (August 2) at his official residence to discuss the Cauvery water dispute in the wake of the latest recommendations and directions issued by the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC).

The meeting is expected to deliberate on the state's response to the water release order and chalk out Karnataka's future course of action on the contentious inter-state river dispute.

The protest comes after the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) upheld the recommendation of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) directing Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs of water per day to Tamil Nadu for a period of 15 days.