Karnataka Mahadayi water dispute: Protesters stick to shutdown demand

BENGALURU: Normal life across Karnataka, including Bengaluru, is likely to be affected on January 25 and February 4 as pro-Kannada and farmer organisations have stuck to their call for dawn-to-dusk shutdown on the two days.

The protesters are demanding a permanent solution to the decades-old dispute over the sharing of the Mahadayi river waters between Karnataka and Goa.

While Thursday’s bandh is supported by the ruling Congress, the protesters have also called a bandh on February 4 (Sunday) to attract the attention of prime minister Narendra Modi, who is visiting Bengaluru on that day to participate in an election campaign.


The January 25 bandh is likely to be observed across Karnataka but the February 4 shutdown is limited to Bengaluru only, the protestors said.

Kannada Chaluvali leader Vatal Nagaraj said the federation would go ahead with the bandh. “It will be a complete bandh. There is no looking back. We are requesting the people of Karnataka including transport operators and shop owners to support us. We will cancel the bandh on February 4 if the prime minister intervenes to resolve the issue,” he told ET.

The statewide bandh would be observed from 6am to 6pm.

The protest follows a three-year demand by farmers in North Karnataka. The Hubballi-based Mahadayi Kalasa Banduri Nala Horata Samanvaya Samiti, the group spearheading the agitation, is demanding the construction of the Kalasa-Banduri dam to divert some Mahadayi water to the drought-prone regions of North Karnataka.

While the river originates in Karnataka, a major part of it flows through Goa before it meets the Arabian sea.

In December last year, the committee observed a bandh in North Karnataka and set January end as the deadline for the government to resolve the issue.

Karnataka Congress working president Dinesh Gundu Rao said the party would support the bandh call given by farmers. “It’s the problem of our people. The prime minister should resolve the issue,” he said.

The call for a statewide bandh has, however, not gone down well with the Bharatiya Janata Party. BJP national president Amit Shah is scheduled to attend the BJP’s parivartana rally in Mysuru on January 25. Prime minister Modi is scheduled to visit Bengaluru on February 4.

“We will completely support the demands raised by Mahadayi protesters but the bandh is not the solution. It’s purely a politically-motivated bandh and chief minister Siddaramaiah is behind it,” BJP leader and chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa told reporters.

NO FEB 4 BANDH IF PM LISTENS
It will be a complete bandh. There is no looking back. We are requesting the people of Karnataka including transport operators and shop owners to support us. We will cancel the bandh on February 4 if the prime minister intervenes to resolve the issue: Vatal Nagaraj, Kannada Chaluvali leader.