The decades-old Cauvery water dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka continues to create hurdles for the residents. Kannada Okkuta, an umbrella group representing Kannada organisations called for a statewide bandh (strike) on 29 September and as many as 44 flights were cancelled at Bengaluru International Airport amidst the chaos.
According to the public relations officer (PRO) of the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru, this includes the cancellation of 22 aircraft that were planned to arrive in Bengaluru and 22 planes that were scheduled to depart from the capital. These flights were scheduled to arrive from a number of cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Mangaluru.
The airport authorities confirmed that the flights were cancelled for operational reasons and that the passengers were promptly informed of this. The sources, however, claimed that cancellations were brought on by the Karnataka bandh since so many people had rescinded their reservations. Furthermore, five pro-Kannada protestors who had come onto the grounds of the airport waving a Karnataka flag were detained. They had reportedly purchased tickets in order to enter the airport’s premises.
The airport’s administration previously issued a passenger advisory in light of the bandh and noted that they expect an interruption in transport services to and from the airport. They recommended travellers to schedule their commutes properly and to monitor alerts from airlines and authorities for new information.
BLR Airport posted on social media, “Due to the one-day Karnataka bandh called by various unions and organisations on September 29, 2023, we anticipate a disruption in transport services. Passengers are advised to plan their travel to and from the airport accordingly. Passengers are requested to follow alerts from respective airlines, law enforcement agencies and media releases for further updates.”
Passengers are requested to follow alerts from respective airlines, law enforcement agencies and media releases for further updates.
— BLR Airport (@BLRAirport) September 28, 2023
ಹೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಮಾಹಿತಿಗಾಗಿ ಆಯಾ ವಿಮಾನಯಾನ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಗಳು, ಸರ್ಕಾರ ಮತ್ತು ಮಾಧ್ಯಮಗಳಿಂದ ಬಿಡುಗಡೆಯಾಗುವ ಸೂಚನೆಗಳನ್ನು ಅನುಸರಿಸುವಂತೆ ಪ್ರಯಾಣಿಕರನ್ನು ವಿನಂತಿಸಲಾಗಿದೆ.… pic.twitter.com/q4uaIetxPr
Karnataka Bandh
The state is currently experiencing the statewide bandh that over 2,000 pro-Kannada organisations announced in protest against the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. The pro-Kannada outfits organised demonstrations and sloganeering at various sites as the band commenced at six in the morning. More than 50 individuals who represented multiple groups have been apprehended in various parts of the state.
Normal life is impacted by the dawn-to-dark protest as transportation, lodging and other amenities remained closed throughout the state. Protest marches are scheduled around the state including the capital Bengaluru. All educational institutions in the districts of Bengaluru and Mandya remain closed and restrictions under section 144 have been imposed in the city. A large number of police personnel have been deployed across the state.
Kannada Okkuta is a coalition of farmers’ organisations and groups from Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, Kannada Chalavali (Vatal Paksha) and other entities that have called for a statewide shutdown. According to bandh organisers, there will be an extensive demonstration procession from Town Hall to Freedom Park in the city and participants from all spheres of society are expected to take part.
They conveyed that the bandh would be observed throughout all of Karnataka and that they would make an effort to close all airports, toll booths, train services, and highways. The bandh has received backing from the Karnataka hotel, autorickshaw, and hail rider organisations as well as the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal (Secular).
Over 200 protesters from pro-Kannada organisations have been held by the Bengaluru Police in an assortment of locations including the airport and close to Attibele which is near the border between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Bengaluru IT corridor gridlock
There was severe traffic congestion in Bengaluru with vehicles clogged up for hours on the evening of 27 September. The Outer Ring Road (ORR) section of the city was the worst affected and left lakhs of commuters stranded for more than five hours.
Numerous events such as rallies planned by the ‘Karnataka Jala Samrakshana Samiti’ against the Cauvery River water issue, Ganesh Visarjan and a later cancelled performance by comedian Trevor Noah contributed to the city’s tech corridor’s acute gridlock.
The Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA), a group comprised of all businesses located in the Outer Ring Road and Arterial Areas between Central Silk Board Junction and Krishnarajapura alerted businesses to advise their staff to lengthen their exit time in response to the jam in ORR.
Police officers reported that the impending long weekend and the numerous individuals departing the city could have been responsible for the traffic bottleneck. While September 28 was a holiday due to Eid-e-Milad an-Nabi, a statewide bandh over the sensitive Cauvery matter was announced on 29 September and 2 October is going to be a holiday because of Gandhi Jayanti.
Cauvery Dispute
The long-standing Cauvery water-sharing conflict erupted in controversy once more in 2012 when the Karnataka government disobeyed the order of Manmohan Singh, who was the prime minister at the time, government to give 9,000 cusecs (cubic feet per second) of water to Tamil Nadu. Violent demonstrations were prompted by the rejection, which raised public awareness of the problem.
The most recent development occurred on 21 September after the Supreme Court decided not to get involved and maintained the Cauvery Water Management Authority’s (CWMA) order to the Karnataka government to provide 5,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for 15 days.
As the upper riparian state, Karnataka refused Tamil Nadu’s request for additional Cauvery river water and highlighted a lack of rainfall in August and warnings that it was facing a drought-like situation. Farmers in the region became alarmed when authorities in Karnataka expressed fears that the reservoirs along the Cauvery river were drying up.
On the other hand, Tamil Nadu’s farmers depend on Cauvery water greatly, particularly for their ‘Kuruvai’ crop. The Cauvery Delta region’s cropland which covers about 30 lakh acres depends on river water for its agricultural operations.
The main entity now in charge of resolving the impasse between the two states is the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), an apolitical body set up under the supervision of the Union Water Resources Ministry to supervise the implementation of the Supreme Court rulings announced in 2018.
The judgement defined water-sharing requirements only for a normal monsoon year, not a distress year, as the current one is proving to be with rainfall that is more than 30% below normal, according to political parties in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu and the Congress in Karnataka have requested the Prime Minister’s intervention to create a framework for settling conflicts under challenging conditions. Out of the four months of monsoon that started in June, the rainfall in August and September was the least in Karnataka in 123 years.
Now, farmers from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have protested in the streets, calling for an end to the Cauvery water-sharing dispute. According to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on 27 September, a case challenging the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee’s directive to Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu would be heard in the apex court. The panel had instructed Karnataka to supply water to the adjacent state at a rate of 3,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs) from 28 September to 15 October.
