Seer of Adichunchanagiri Mutt Sri Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji turned up at the site of protest by farmers’ outfits in Mandya to extend his support to the ongoing agitation against release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu on September 22, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Several shops and business establishments remained closed in Mandya on September 23 in response to a call for bandh by Mandya District Farmers’ Struggle Committee in protest against the release of Cauvery water from the reservoirs to Tamil Nadu.
Private buses and autos stayed off the roads while theatres, hotels and most commercial establishments downed their shutters as activists of Kannada organisations and farmers’ outfits staged demonstrations in different parts of Mandya.
Students participate in protest
Banks remained closed on account of a holiday on fourth Saturday, but many private educational institutions declared a holiday for their students. A number of students from different colleges joined the protestors at Sanjay Circle and formed a human chain.
Mandya District Farmers’ Struggle Committee leader Sunanda Jayaram said they had given a call for bandh only in Mandya town, but had received reports from all the taluks of the district that the people have voluntarily downed their shops and business establishments.
“The call for bandh has elicited a very good response from people across Mandya district,” she claimed.
In Maddur, where shops and business establishments remained closed, Kannada activists took out a bike rally through the thoroughfares of the town.
Mandya district police has beefed up security across the district to prevent any untoward incident.
Also read | Explained | Why is the Cauvery water sharing issue flaring up again?
Highway unaffected
The police has also clarified that the traffic was plying normally on the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway. “Traffic on the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway has not been affected,” said a police official.
State BJP holds protest
Meanwhile, the State unit of BJP held a symbolic protest at Mysore Bank Circle in Bengaluru against what they called “failure of the Congress government to protect State’s interest” in Cauvery issue.
Among those who courted arrest were former Chief Ministers B.S. Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai.