Cauvery water row: Violence in Bengaluru hits Keralites' Onam travel plan
Hyderabad: The ongoing protests in Bengaluru over the Supreme Court order to release Cauvery waters to Tamil Nadu has affected the plans of Malayalees in Hyderabad, who intended to take buses to go to Kerala for Onam on Wednesday.
All buses from the city to Kerala pass through Bengaluru, where violence has broken out. Several private bus services from Hyderabad to Bengaluru and Mysuru were cancelled on Monday. Both these cities are major points for changing buses towards Kerala for those travelling from Hyderabad. Direct buses to Kerala from Hyderabad also go through Bengaluru.
Kallada Travels, which operates seven buses from Hyderabad to Kozhikode, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram, cancelled all its services on Monday to ensure passenger safety. Two buses of the company which had already left Hyderabad were called back midway.
An official of Kallada Travels in Hyderabad said, “We did not want to risk the safety of passengers. We got reports of some buses belonging to private operators being damaged and burnt in Bengaluru. Even buses which had Karnataka registration were damaged. We are getting regular updates from our offices in Bengaluru and Mysuru and are monitoring the situation. We will operate once situation becomes normal in Bengaluru.”
Even Hyderabad based Malayalees, working at IT companies in Benguluru had to cancel their plans of travelling home for Onam. Mr K.N.S. Nair from Hyderabad said, “My daughter and her family were supposed to come to Hyderabad for Onam but they had to cancel their plans. Due to circumstances prevailing in Bengaluru she could not take the risk of travelling to Hyderabad.”
Libby Benjamin, president of Confederation of Telugu Region Malayalee Association, said, “Onam is celebrated in Kerala regardless of which caste, religion or community a person belongs to and celebrating it in the home state has a different charm. Working professionals and businessmen who could not get long leave and had decided they would travel a day before Onam will miss this once in a year celebration of oneness.”
