Cauvery water dispute: Protesters attack Wipro office during Karnataka bandh

Bangalore: A few demonstraters entered the Mysore office of IT giant Wipro amidst the protests against release of Cauvery water during the bandh called by Kannada outfits in Karnataka on Saturday. The protesters entered the office and asked the staff to stop work in view of the bandh. A few of them tried to ransack the office.

The dawn-to-dusk 'Karnataka bandh' called by the outfits to protest against the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu disrupted normal life in the city and river basin districts even as window-panes of some buses were damaged in stone-pelting incidents.

In Bangalore city, some persons pelted stones on some Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses and damaged its window panes, police said. As per initial reports, the bandh has evoked serious response with normal life affected in Bangalore, and Cauvery basin districts of Mandya, Mysore, Hassan and Chamarajanagar.

The protesters entered the office and asked the staff to stop work in view of the bandh. A few of them tried to ransack the office.

In Bangalore, country's IT capital, roads which are generally choc-a-bloc with traffic wore a deserted look with people preferring to remain indoors barring few morning walkers. Some persons, who had come to visit the city, were seen stranded at railway stations and bus stands with buses belonging to Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and BMTC and even auto-rickshaws remaining off the roads.

Activists belonging to pro-Kannada organisation, Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, staged protest marches in Nelamangala, Anekal and Doddaballapura in Bangalore Rural District, Superintendent of Police D Prakash told PTI. The Chamundi Express was stopped at Srirangapatna and not allowed to proceed to Mysore, railway police said.

The central study team, on its second day of visit for assessing the water-situation, undertook an aerial study in Harangi, Kabini and Hemavathy catchment area. Peaceful protest marches were held in Mandya and Mysore districts with farmers resorting to "rasta roko" in Srirangapatna and Gejjalagere in Mandya district, hotbed of the stir, police said. Security has been tightened with 80,000 police and other personnel being deployed to prevent any untoward incidents.

The Karnataka government began releasing 9,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu after the Supreme Court asked it to abide by the September 19 directive of the Cauvery River Authority (CRA), headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, till October 15.

(With additional information from PTI)

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