Bengaluru bandh: Section 144 in entire city, no nod for protest | 10 points
Bengaluru bandh: Walmart and Google have asked their staff to work from home on Tuesday.
A day before the first bandh in Karnataka over the Cauvery water share issue this week, Bengaluru police said no permission for any bandh, protest, or demonstration has been given and the entire Bengaluru is under Section 144 prohibiting the assembly of more than five people. The 12-hour (6am to 6pm) Bengaluru bandh on September 26 has been called by the farmers' organisation and the opposition parties have extended support. The next bandh in Karnataka is on September 29 and it will be a statewide bandh on the same issue.
Two bandhs in Karnataka in a week: Here is all you need to know
1. The Bengaluru bandh has been called by Karnataka Jala Samrakshana Samiti', an umbrella outfit of farmers’ associations and other organisations led by farmer leader Kuruburu Shanthakumar. The all-Karnataka bandh on Friday (September 29) has been called by Kannada Okkuta', led by Kannada activist Vatal Nagaraj.
2. Kannada Okkuta is not supporting Tuesday's Bengaluru bandh. They asked tomorrow's bandh organisers to defer Bengaluru bandh to Friday and observe it together across the state. But the organisers decided to go ahead with tomorrow's Bengaluru bandh as they claimed they received support.
3. Both the bandhs are, however, for the same cause protesting against the Karnataka government's decision to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
4. Bengaluru bandh confusion: The confusion is over which services will remain open and which will be closed on Tuesday in Bengaluru as there is a division over who are supporting the bandh.
5. Schools, colleges will remain closed while most of the offices have asked their employees to work from home. Walmart and Alphabet's Google issued notices to the employees asking them to not come to office amid the bandh situation on Tuesday.
6. Hotel Owners' Association withdrew their support to Bengaluru Bandh citing confusion. So Bengaluru hotels and restaurants will remain open.
7. Bengaluru's auto and taxi unions have extended a complete support to Bengaluru bandh. So people will be inconvenienced. State buses will also not ply in Bengaluru. Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation services will not be affected. Metro services will remain as usual.
8. BJP is supporting the Bengaluru bandh of Tuesday. Chief minister Siddaramaiah said his government will not curtail protests but there should be peace.
9. The Ola Uber Drivers and Owners Association, which had earlier supported the Bandh on Tuesday, withdrew their support on Tuesday. They will participate in the Friday's statewide bandh.
10. The Karnataka government said the issue should not be politicised by the BJP as the government cannot ignore the court ruling which rejected the Karnataka government's petition.
What is the Cauvery water issue?
Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have been locked in this water battle for decades. The recent flare-up has been the rejection of the Karnataka government's petition by the Supreme Court against an order of the Cauvery Water Management Authority asking Karnataka to release 5,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for 15 days from September 13. Karnataka government said it is not in a position to release this amount as there are its own needs for drinking water and irrigation.
