A day after rain fury, a near total dawn-to-dusk bandh called by pro-Kannada and farmers’ organisations over Mahadayi water dispute between Karnataka and Goa came in handy for the Bengaluru city corporation workers in clearing debris and choking blocks of the lake links and rajakaluves (storm drains) for easy flow of water.
However the solace is the Bengaluru city corporation workers with less traffic congestion and respite from rain started working on clearing debris and choking blocks of the lake links and rajakaluves (storm drains ) for easy flow of water. As met department has predicted more rains, after much criticism the Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike and other departments have started working to ease water flow in some of the areas in South Bengaluru where people had horrible experience to the civic apathy for the last two days. The incessant rain for the last two days had submerged part of Bengaluru and many lakes have started overflowing with people catching the fish in the storm water. In some of the areas in south Bengaluru the authorities have used boats to rescue stranded people.
Meanwhile the bandh called against the interim order of the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal (MWDT)rejecting Karnataka’s plea for 7.56 thousand million cubic feet of water for a drinking water project to serve the state’s parched northern regions has evoked strong response in Bengaluru and other cities.
In Bengaluru transport services have been hit with several transport workers unions, auto rickshaws and cab unions extending support to the call. While film theatres, hotels, restaurants and malls, have been shut in support of the bandh, some schools and colleges have declared holiday today. In Bengaluru, protesters led by film personalities took out a massive protest march from Town Hall Circle to Freedom Park via Hudson Circle, KG Road and Palace Road.
The Mahadayi water-sharing dispute has the states of Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka vying for water from the Mahadayi river. Tension gripped Yamanur village in Hubballi-Dharwad district as police made a lathicharge to disperse protesting farmers. Police said to prevent untoward incidents, four companies each of Border Security Force (BSF), Rapid Action Force (RAF) and an adequate number of Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) personnel have been deployed in the ‘Mumbai-Karnataka’ region.
The MWDT, headed by Juistice J.N. Panchal had on Wednesday rejected the state’s petition for 7.6 tmcft of water from the river, citing various grounds, including ecological damage the project might cause.
The Kalasa-Banduri Nala (diversion) project, which will utilise 7.56 tmcft of water from the inter-state Mahadayi River, is being undertaken by Karnataka to improve drinking water supply to the twin cities of Hubballi-Dharwad and the districts of Belagavi and Gadag.
Karnataka, which has locked horns with neighbouring Goa on the larger issue of sharing of the Mahadayi river waters between both states, had petitioned the tribunal seeking release of 7.56 tmcft of water for Kalasa-Banduri Nala project.
The project to supply drinking water to Hubballi-Dharwad, Gadag, Bagalkot and Belagavi districts from the river through the Kalsa-Banduri canals in the Malabrabha basin has remained incomplete due to the decade-long standoff between the two states.
As the 77 km-long Mahadayi flows into Goa from Karnataka on the west coast into the Arabian Sea, the former has been objecting over sharing its water, as 52 km of its stretch is in its state and is a lifeline for its people.
