The 12-hour shutdown called by the Confederation of Pro-Kannada Organisations led by Vatal Nagaraj on Thursday impacted normal life almost throughout the state.There was no reports of loss of life or property.
Normal life was disrupted across the state, with public transport keeping off the roads, and offices, schools, colleges, malls, hotels remaining shut till the evening.
Demonstrations were mostly limited to disruption of traffic, sloganeering, burning tyres and effigies of Goa CM Manohar Parrikar. There were chants against the state and central government too.
There were few incidents of shops being vandalised in Bengaluru and other parts of the state. Some activists also asked auto drivers not to ferry passengers and took their vehicle keys temporarily,
Addressing reporters in the afternoon, Vatal termed the strike an “overall success”.
“The PM has to intervene in this issue. We will not leave this issue alone until the PM intervenes. We are unable to see the plight of people in north Karnataka and see the injustice they face.”
“In the upcoming days, we will intensify our protests while demanding that the PM intervenes in this issue. We will also go to New Delhi and protest in front of Jantar Mantar,” he added.
Major bus stands wore a deserted look across the state. Both KSRTC and BMTC suspended operations until late afternoon. Passengers were left stranded and had to settle for cabs at exorbitant prices. Interstate buses from Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Goa were also halted.
However, Namma Metro functioned without hindrance with trains available every 10 minutes in both Green and Purple lines. But metro traffic was close to half of an average day.
People with private vehicles were largely unaffected, while cabs were lesser than usual days.
Efforts to disrupt train services by the activists failed due to the presence of high number of police personnel.
A majority of offices, commercial establishments barring hospitals, medicine shops remained closed.
There were stray incidents of shops being forcibly shut down in Bengaluru’s Mosque Road, Avenue Road and Malleshwaram.
The IT parks of Bengaluru wore a deserted look as most offices remained shut and employees were told to work from home.
Friday being a national holiday (Republic Day), many chose to extend their extended holidays further.
Farmers, pro-Kannada organisations and regional outfits called for the shutdown, asking for the Prime Minister's intervention in the dispute for Mahadayi river water from the neighbouring state of Goa.