Normal life was not affected in Coimbatore on Saturday as there was poor response for the State-wide bandh to protest against the dam proposed to be constructed by the Karnataka Government across River Cauvery at Mekadatu. The bandh call was given by farmers and was backed by many political parties in the opposition.
Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation buses plying from Kerala to Karnataka stopped operations and remained in Kerala till the bandh came to an end. A few KSRTC buses from Bengaluru that came to Coimbatore on Friday night remained at the depot till 6 p.m. on Saturday. Close to 2,600 police, Armed Reserve, Home Guard and Tamil Nadu Special Police personnel were deployed in the city and rural areas to ensure that normal life was not affected. The police said that no untoward incident or clash was reported.
In the city, about 60 percent shops remained open. Many shops on the D.B. Road, T.K. Market and at Oppanakara Street remained closed. Shops on the main roads that remained closed in the morning opened as the day progressed. Government buses ran as usual.
Many private buses and autorickshaws were also operated.
Sources in the industry said that the manufacturing units and functioning of offices were not affected by the bandh.
But for a demonstration by the Kongunadu Jananayaka Katchi, there were no other demonstrations in the city.
The KJK cadre urged the Karnataka Government to follow the Supreme Court direction in sharing water with Tamil Nadu and to end their effort to build the dam. They also urged the Government at the Centre to save farmers in Tamil Nadu and nationalise rivers.
Response for the bandh was poor in rural Coimbatore. According to the Coimbatore District Police, only 30 percent shops remained closed. Stating that the movement of Government buses was not affected, they added that about 40 per cent private buses, 70 percent autorickshaws and 25 percent lorries remained off the road to extend their support to farmers.
Special Correspondent adds from Udhagamandalam: Members of the mercantile community in various parts of the Nilgiris district joined hands on Saturday to register their protest against the move of the Karnataka government to construct a dam across Cauvery.
Responding to the call, members of various merchant bodies like the Coonoor Merchants Association, and the Udhagamandalam Municipal Market Traders Association and commercial establishments, including hotels, downed their shutters. Consequently, normal life was affected practically all over the district.
Owing to the hotels remaining closed, tourists were subjected to considerable inconvenience.
Though Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation buses plied as usual and mini buses were seen on some of the routes, the number of passengers was less. The number of autorickshaws plying was also less.
There was a drop in the inflow of tourists though scenic spots like the Government Botanical Garden and the Ooty Lake presented a crowded look. Official sources said that the crowd at the GBG was only about half of what it was usually on Saturdays.
Twenty activists of the VCK, who staged a picketing demonstration near the bus stand in Coonoor, were rounded up.
Speaking to The Hindu, the Nilgiris Collector P. Sankar said that the day passed off peacefully and no untoward incidents were reported from any part of the district.
Buses bound for Karnataka were operated up to the check-post at Kakkanullah. It enabled passengers to continue their journey in Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation buses from the other side of the border. As a measure of precaution, security had been beefed up in all the vulnerable places.
