The dawn-to-dusk bandh over the Mahadayi river water sharing issue was total and peaceful here on Thursday.
Barring an incident of a bid to barge into the railway station by members of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (Narayana Gowda faction), the bandh was peaceful. Elaborate security arrangements were made to ensure law and order.
Additional police forces were deployed at strategic locations, including the railway station and bus stations.
Normal life was affected as North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) and private bus operators withdrew bus services following a call for bandh given by pro-Kannada organisations.
The district administration declared a holiday for educational institutions as a precautionary measure.
Business establishments downed their shutters on their own.
Attendance in some government offices was minimal. The otherwise busy areas of Subhas Road, Swami Vivekananda Circle, Jubilee Circle and others wore a deserted look.
Protest rallies began in the morning, with members of Kannada organisations and others staging demonstration at the Jubilee Circle. They demanded an early resolution to the Mahadayi river water sharing dispute and also burnt the effigy of Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar alleging that Goa Government’s stubborn attitude was coming in the way of finding an amicable solution to this river water sharing issue and execution of the Kalasa-Banduri canal project.
The police took into custody nearly 20 members of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (Narayana Gowda faction) when they tried to picket the railway station and stage a rail roko. They were later released.
A group of vedike workers, led by district unit president Rehman Hooli, took out a protest rally to the railway station and staged a protest on the premises. However, the police personnel deployed at the railway station prevented them from barging into the railway station.
Irate with this move of the police, the protesters entered into a heated argument with the police and asked them to allow them to picket the railway station and stop the movement of trains. However, the police did not heed to any appeal of the protesters and asked them to leave the railway station premises. But, the agitators forcibly tried to breach the security and to avoid untoward incidents and in ensuring safety of passengers, the police took into custody the agitating vedike members.
