Bangalore has come to a standstill due to the bandh and the movement of vehicles was less. There were no reports of deaths. State transport buses are plying - but the number of passengers is very low. The police have detained about 200 protesters during the bandh. The heat of the bandh hit the people and they did not come out of their homes. Although BMTC buses and metro rail services are running as usual. Heavy police force was deployed at important roundabouts and strategic places in the city. Strict vigilance has been taken to prevent any untoward incident. However, the Karnataka bandh will be held on a larger scale on Sept. 29th. The Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) has recommended the Karnataka government to release 3,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu from September 28 to October 15. The decision was made following a meeting today. Section 144 has been imposed in the city. Karnataka transport minister Ramalinga Reddy met protesters at Freedom Park and received a memorandum on behalf of the government. He said that he will bring them to the notice of the chief minister.
Against the release of the Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, Karnataka Jalsarakshana Samiti, Bangalore held a bandh, and more than 50 organizations have expressed their support for this bandh. BJP, JDS, Aam Aadma Party have also supported the bandh and the protest is brewing. AAP state president Chief Minister Chandru and many other leaders participated in the protest held today at Freedom Park. The pro-Kannada fighters who had sieged the Raj Bhavan demanding that Cauvery River water should not be released to Tamil Nadu for any reason were taken into custody by the police. Various pro-Kannada organizations under the leadership of Vatal party president Vatal Nagaraj, protested. During the ongoing Raj Bhavan siege movement, the enforcement police intervened and arrested the militants to prevent them from protesting against the prohibition order. Thousands of activists of various organizations including the Farmers' Association staged a massive protest from Jesi Road's City Hall to Freedom Park to oppose the draining of Cauvery water. The protestors demanded that the central government should intervene in this matter.Thousands of people marched from the town hall to the freedom park shouting slogans against the state government. They condemned the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu and shouted contempt against the government and said that they wanted justice.Shop fronts and hotels have been voluntarily closed in important parts of the city including Chikkapet, KR Market, Avenue Road, Mysore Bank Circle, Majestic, Gandhinagar, Shivajinagar. Commercial business has come to a complete standstill. The Kannada film industry has supported the bandh, all cinema theaters and malls have been closed and the activities of the film industry have been closed. However, the situation at the airport is normal and passengers have flown as always. A holiday has been declared for schools and colleges in the wake of the Bengaluru bandh.