The angst over the lack of concern among those from south Karnataka towards issues affecting the northern districts resulted in a lukewarm response to the bandh call given by pro-Kannada organisations on the Mekedatu project, in Hubballi-Dharwad and other parts of Dharwad district on Saturday.
Similar was the response of the people to the bandh call in Haveri, Gadag and Uttara Kannada districts where barring token protests by handful of protesters affiliated to pro-Kannada organisations, normal life remained unaffected.
It was life as usual for the people of these districts as they experienced no problem whatsoever with regard to the public transport services, auto rickshaw service and banking services.
Those who had shut their shops in the morning fearing possible violence during the bandh, subsequently opened them and commercial establishments and functioned as usual.
As there was no untoward incident of any sort, the city bus transport services in the twin cities functioned normally. However, there was decline in the number of long route buses reaching the twin cities because of the impact of the bandh in the southern districts where the call received a good response.
The citizens of Hubballi witnessed an unusual event on Saturday.
Accustomed to seeing the members of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike staging protests, they were surprised to see them visiting shops and offices with flowers.
The vedike members visited several of the shops that were functioning normally without responding to the bandh call and thanked the shopkeepers for not participating in the bandh by giving them flowers.
Vedike office-bearer Amrut Ijari said that as the people and leaders from south Karnataka had not bothered to extend their support to issues concerning the northern districts, they too would not bother about the bandh call given for the Mekedatu project.
