Mahadayi water dispute: Bandh may have caused Karnataka loss of Rs 24,000 crore

Bengaluru: It was an unusually quiet Thursday in Bengaluru as BMTC buses and most other vehicles stayed off its roads and its shops and commercial establishments, including malls, downed their shutters in response to the state-wide bandh over the Mahadayi water dispute.

Barring a few stray incidents of stone pelting in Malleswaram and Avenue Road the day passed off largely peacefully although protestors demanding the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Mahadayi dispute burnt his effigy, took out rallies, attempted a rail roko and burnt tyres.

Buses have been stopped, bandh has been called, efforts are on to stop Modi's rally on February 4, but I have confidence in the people of this great Karnataka... Congress is even now behaving like it did during the Emergency by deploying police to hold off supporters and by organising Mahadayi bandhs matching my and PM Narendra Modiji's Parivartana Yatra address
— Amit Shah, BJP national president

With the KSRTC and BMTC abruptly deciding to pull back their bus services from 6 am, commuters were left stranded and the bustling Majestic, City Market, Shivajinagar and Yeshwantpur bus stands wore a deserted look. Namma Metro was a saving grace for commuters as cabs and autorickshaws too stayed off the roads in support of the bandh, although they did ply later with cab drivers helping stranded passengers.

With hardly any traffic to be seen, roads turned into playgrounds with children coming out to play cricket on them. They had little else to do as schools and colleges had declared a holiday. Government offices too saw thin attendance.