Cauvery dispute: 44 flights cancelled at Bengaluru airport amid Karnataka bandh

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 referred to as for a statewide bandh (strike) on 29 September and as many as 44 flights have been cancelled at Bengaluru International Airport amidst the chaos.

According to the general public relations officer (PRO) of the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru, this contains the cancellation of twenty-two plane that have been deliberate to reach in Bengaluru and 22 planes that have been scheduled to depart from the capital. These flights have been scheduled to reach from quite a few cities, together with Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Mangaluru.

The airport authorities confirmed that the flights have been cancelled for operational causes and that the passengers have been promptly knowledgeable of this. The sources, nonetheless, claimed that cancellations have been introduced on by the Karnataka bandh since so many individuals had rescinded their reservations. Furthermore, 5 pro-Kannada protestors who had come onto the grounds of the airport waving a Karnataka flag have been detained. They had reportedly bought tickets so as to enter the airport’s premises.

The airport’s administration beforehand issued a passenger advisory in gentle of the bandh and famous that they anticipate an interruption in transport companies to and from the airport. They advisable travellers to schedule their commutes correctly and to watch alerts from airways and authorities for brand new data.

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 observe alerts from respective airways, legislation enforcement businesses and media releases for additional updates.

ಹೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಮಾಹಿತಿಗಾಗಿ ಆಯಾ ವಿಮಾನಯಾನ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಗಳು, ಸರ್ಕಾರ ಮತ್ತು ಮಾಧ್ಯಮಗಳಿಂದ ಬಿಡುಗಡೆಯಾಗುವ ಸೂಚನೆಗಳನ್ನು ಅನುಸರಿಸುವಂತೆ ಪ್ರಯಾಣಿಕರನ್ನು ವಿನಂತಿಸಲಾಗಿದೆ.… pic.twitter.com/q4uaIetxPr

— BLR Airport (@BLRAirport) September 28, 2023

Karnataka Bandh

The state is at present experiencing the statewide bandh that over 2,000 pro-Kannada organisations introduced in protest in opposition to the discharge of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. The pro-Kannada outfits organised demonstrations and sloganeering at numerous websites because the band commenced at six within the morning. More than 50 people who represented a number of teams have been apprehended in numerous elements of the state.

Normal life is impacted by the dawn-to-dark protest as transportation, lodging and different facilities remained closed all through the state. Protest marches are scheduled across the state together with the capital Bengaluru. All academic establishments within the districts of Bengaluru and Mandya stay closed and restrictions underneath part 144 have been imposed within the metropolis. A lot of police personnel have been deployed throughout the state.

Kannada Okkuta is a coalition of farmers’ organisations and teams from Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, Kannada Chalavali (Vatal Paksha) and different entities which have referred to as for a statewide shutdown. According to bandh organisers, there will likely be an intensive demonstration procession from Town Hall to Freedom Park within the metropolis and contributors from all spheres of society are anticipated to participate.

They conveyed that the bandh can be noticed all through all of Karnataka and that they might make an effort to shut all airports, toll cubicles, prepare companies, and highways. The bandh has acquired backing from the Karnataka resort, autorickshaw, and hail rider organisations in addition to 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 places together with the airport and near Attibele which is close to the border between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Bengaluru IT hall gridlock

There was extreme visitors congestion in Bengaluru with automobiles clogged up for hours on the night of 27 September. The Outer Ring Road (ORR) part of the town was the worst affected and left lakhs of commuters stranded for greater than 5 hours.

Source: X

Numerous occasions reminiscent of rallies deliberate by the ‘Karnataka Jala Samrakshana Samiti’ in opposition to the Cauvery River water challenge, Ganesh Visarjan and a later cancelled efficiency by comic Trevor Noah contributed to the town’s tech hall’s acute gridlock.

The Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA), a bunch comprised of all companies situated within the Outer Ring Road and Arterial Areas between Central Silk Board Junction and Krishnarajapura alerted companies to advise their employees to elongate their exit time in response to the jam in ORR.

Police officers reported that the upcoming lengthy weekend and the quite a few people departing the town may have been chargeable for the visitors bottleneck. While September 28 was a vacation on account of Eid-e-Milad an-Nabi, a statewide bandh over the delicate Cauvery matter was introduced on 29 September and a couple of October goes to be a vacation due to Gandhi Jayanti.

Cauvery Dispute

The long-standing Cauvery water-sharing battle erupted in controversy as soon as extra in 2012 when the Karnataka authorities disobeyed the order of Manmohan Singh, who was the prime minister on the time, authorities to provide 9,000 cusecs (cubic toes per second) of water to Tamil Nadu. Violent demonstrations have been prompted by the rejection, which raised public consciousness of the issue.

The most up-to-date growth occurred on 21 September after the Supreme Court determined to not become involved and maintained the Cauvery Water Management Authority’s (CWMA) order to the Karnataka authorities to offer 5,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for 15 days.

As the higher riparian state, Karnataka refused Tamil Nadu’s request for extra Cauvery river water and highlighted a scarcity of rainfall in August and warnings that it was dealing with a drought-like state of affairs. Farmers within the area grew to become alarmed when authorities in Karnataka expressed fears that the reservoirs alongside the Cauvery river have been drying up.

On the opposite hand, Tamil Nadu’s farmers rely on Cauvery water enormously, significantly for his or her ‘Kuruvai’ crop. The Cauvery Delta area’s cropland which covers about 30 lakh acres will depend on river water for its agricultural operations.

The important entity now answerable for resolving the deadlock between the 2 states is the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), an apolitical physique arrange underneath the supervision of the Union Water Resources Ministry to oversee the implementation of the Supreme Court rulings introduced in 2018.

The judgement outlined water-sharing necessities solely for a traditional monsoon yr, not a misery yr, as the present one is proving to be with rainfall that’s greater than 30% beneath regular, in response to political events 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 underneath difficult circumstances. Out of the 4 months of monsoon that began 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 within the streets, calling for an finish to the Cauvery water-sharing dispute. According to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on 27 September, a case difficult the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee’s directive to Karnataka to launch water to Tamil Nadu can be heard within the apex court docket. The panel had instructed Karnataka to produce water to the adjoining state at a charge of three,000 cubic toes per second (cusecs) from 28 September to fifteen October.