Headlines
Shutdown in Karnataka in support of dam across Cauvery
Bengaluru, April 18
A 12-hour dawn-to-dusk
shutdown was underway across Karnataka on Saturday in support of
building a reservoir dam across Cauvery river at Mekedatu for
hydro-power and drinking water supply in the old Mysore region.
"The
shutdown has been peaceful since morning, barring stray incidents of
some activists forcing shops and small eateries to remain closed in a
few residential areas in the city," a senior police official told IANS.
The
state government's plan to build the dam at Mekedatu in Kanakapura
taluk, about 100 km from Bengaluru, is facing opposition from Tamil
Nadu, the southern riparian state, which shares the river water as per
the tribunal award.
The 800 km-long Cauvery river, which
originates at Talakaveri near Kodagu in the rich biodiverse Western
Ghats region, flows southeastwards to Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry
and finally joins the Bay of Bengal.
As the shutdown, called by
about 70 Kannada organisations and regional parties, is being observed
largely in the old Mysore region spanning Bengaluru, Ramanagara, Mandya
and Mysore districts, normal life has come to a standstill, with
schools, colleges, markets, hotels, malls, petrol bunks and movie
theatres closed.
Though state-run transport corporations have not
joined the shutdown, buses are not operating in the city or across the
old Mysore region. Private buses, maxi-cabs, taxis and autorickshwas
have also kept off the roads in support of the shutdown.
Train
and flight services, however, remained unaffected though hundreds of
passengers faced hardship in commuting from railway stations and the
airport in the absence of public or private transport.
Emergency
services, hospitals, medical shops, supply of milk, vegetables and
essential commodities were exempted from the shutdown.
Hundreds
of Kannada Vedike Parishad activists and members of the Kannada film
fraternity, cadres of the Kannada Chalavali Vatal Paksha (KCVP), a state
political outfit, and various social and cultural organisations are
participating in the day-long demonstration at the Freedom Park in the
city centre amid tight security.
About 10,000 people, including
women, took out a mile-long procession from Town Hall to Freedom Park in
support of the project and criticised the Tamil Nadu government for
opposing it without reason or jurisdiction.
"The Tamil Nadu
government has no moral or legal right to oppose the project, as its
location is within our state and is meant to generate power and supply
drinking water to Bangalore urban and rural districts, including
Kanakapura and Ramanagara," KCVP president Vatal Nagaraj asserted.
As
Karnataka is releasing the river water to Tamil Nadu as per the
tribunal award through the year, the neighbouring state has no say in
how the water is utilised when flowing within the state's borders, they
said.
Though the state government is yet to take environmental
clearance to build the dam, it has made a budgetary allocation of
Rs.25-crore to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for submission to
the central government.
"We have invited global expression of
interest for the DPR to which three firms have evinced interest so far,"
state Water Resources Minister M.B. Patil told reporters here.