Cauvery award: Karnataka shutdown postponed to Monday

Bangalore -- The proposed Karnataka shutdown, scheduled for Thursday in protest against the final Cauvery water-sharing award, has been postponed to Feb 12 to avoid disrupting the five-day Aero India show beginning here Wednesday.

"We have agreed to put off the statewide bandh to next Monday at the behest of the state government and prevent disrupting an international event like the air show taking place at Yelahanka base of the IAF on the outskirts of Bangalore," Vatal Paksha president Vatal Nagaraj told reporters here Tuesday.

"As we do not want to inconvenience the public and the participants from across the country and overseas, we have decided to postpone the one-day shutdown, but will continue to stage peaceful protests and demonstrations against the centre and the Cauvery River Water Disputes Tribunal for giving such an anti-Karnataka award," he said.

Even as protests, rallies and demonstrations continued for the second day in the districts of Mandya, Mysore, Chamarajnagar, Tumkur and Hassan, which come under the Cauvery river basin, the all-party meeting too was postponed to Wednesday from Tuesday.

"The all-party meeting on the government's decision to file a review petition against the verdict will be held Wednesday as leaders of the main opposition party (Congress) had to rush to Managalore to attend the last rites of its sitting legislator U.T. Fareed, who passed away earlier in the day," Home Minister M.P. Prakash told reporters.

Earlier, the state cabinet discussed the final award of the tribunal and decided to file a review petition to reconsider the quantum of water - 270 thousand million cubic (TCM) feet - allotted to the state as against 470 TMC to Tamil Nadu.

"We were briefed in detail by the state advocates and irrigation experts who appeared before the tribunal and argued the state's case. A final decision on the draft of the review petition and other measures to be taken to protect the interests of farmers will be taken after the all-party meeting," Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy told reporters.

Praising the people of Karanataka for maintaining peace, Kumaraswamy appealed to the regional parties and Kannada organisations to ensure their protests, demonstrations and rallies against the award remain peaceful and not give room for violence.

The chief minister also met Governor T.N. Chaturvedi and briefed him on the law and order situation in the state, especially in the old Mysore region where the Cauvery flows across to the neighbouring state, and the measures taken to maintain peace.

Though schools and colleges were shut as a precautionary measure, hundreds of IT and BPO companies in and around the city functioned normally, though many reported thin attendance due to inadequate public transport.

Shops and commercial establishments remained open but reported less business than on normal working days.

With unprecedented security measures in the light of the Aero India event and the ongoing session of the assembly, the city police continued to maintain vigil to thwart any untoward incidents.

"Barring stray incidents of stone-throwing and burning of tyres to block roads and divert vehicular traffic on the Bangalore-Mysore state highway, the situation remained under control even as uneasy calm prevails in the dominant Tamil-speaking area," City Police Commissioner N. Achut Rao told IANS on phone.

Additional Director General of Police (Law & Order) Shankar Bidri said vehicular traffic on the busy 160-km Bangalore-Mysore highway had come to a standstill, with police directing state road transport buses, private vehicles and trucks to take the old Kanakapura road.

"Only peaceful protests, demonstrations and rallies were allowed. Extra forces were rushed to the three districts in the river basin to maintain law and order. Hundreds of anti-social elements and miscreants were detained to prevent the situation turning violent," Bidri said.

According to reports at the state DGP office here, protesters used huge boulders, burning tyres, tractors and bullock carts to block the highway and the Bangalore-Hassan and Bangalore-Tumkur roads.

Normal life was affected in several towns across the basin region with various farmers and social organisations calling for a shutdown in protest against the tribunal award.

Train services in the southern parts of the state were affected with agitators squatting on the rail tracks at several stations.