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Several pro-Kannada organisations have called for a Karnataka bandh on August 13 to protest the recent directive to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, escalating tensions over the decades-old inter-state river dispute.
Kannada activist Vatal Nagaraj announced that the bandh has the support of more than 1,600 Kannada organisations and over 1,000 other associations across the state. He said that the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce and several trade bodies have also extended their support.
"Our only demand is that Cauvery water should not be released to Tamil Nadu under any circumstances," Nagaraj told reporters.
He also warned against the proposed visit of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay to Bengaluru on August 3.
"If he is coming to meet the Chief Minister and discuss other issues, he is welcome. But if he comes to demand Cauvery water, we will protest against his visit and block the Bengaluru airport," Nagaraj said.
The bandh call comes a day after the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) upheld an earlier order by the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC), directing Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs of Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu for 15 days, amounting to around 4 TMC of water. The Authority rejected Karnataka's objections, despite the state's argument that deficient monsoon rainfall and low reservoir levels had left it with barely enough water to meet drinking water needs.
The CWRC had issued the initial directive on July 28 after Tamil Nadu argued that Karnataka had fallen significantly short of the scheduled releases under the Cauvery water-sharing arrangement. Karnataka has indicated that it will challenge the order, maintaining that it is facing severe water scarcity due to poor rainfall in the Cauvery basin.
A day earlier, Kannada activists staged a protest in Mandya district and disrupted the screening of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay's latest film, Jana Nayagan.