Pramesh S Jain & Dr.Thomas (Special Correspondent)
A
day before the first bandh in Karnataka over the Cauvery water share issue this week,Bengaluru police said no permission for any bandh,protest, or demonstration has been given and the entire Bengaluru is under Section 144 prohibiting the assembly of more than five people.
The 12-hour (6am to 6pm) Bengaluru bandh on September 26 has been called by the farmers’ organisation and the opposition parties have extended support.
The next bandh in Karnataka is on September 29 and it will be a statewide bandh on the same issue.
Schools,colleges will remain closed while most of the offices have asked their employees to work from home.
Hotel Owners’ Association withdrew their support to Bengaluru Bandh citing confusion.So Bengaluru hotels and restaurants might remain open.
Bengaluru’s auto and taxi unions have extended a complete support to Bengaluru bandh. So people will be inconvenienced.
State buses will also not ply in Bengaluru. Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation services will not be affected. Metro services will remain as usual.
BJP is supporting the Bengaluru bandh of Tuesday. Chief minister Siddaramaiah said his government will not curtail protests but there should be peace.
As part of the elaborate security arrangements,City Police Commissioner B Dayananda called a emergency press conference along with senior officers as,Addl CPs,as,Satheesh Kumar, Raman Gupta,Joint CP Traffic,MN Anucheth with other officers were present and said that prohibitory orders under section 144 of crpc has been clamped for the next 24 hours to ensure law and order situation for Bengaluru Bandh called by Karnataka Jana Samrakshaka Samithi to protest against the release of Cauvery water on Tuesday.
As part of the prohibitory orders permission to carry out protest march scheduled from town hall to Mysuru Bank circle and freedom park has been denied,Mr. Dayananda said.
A message for not granting permission has been conveyed to the organizers and have been told them that the decision was taken based on the Supreme Court and High Court direction in this regard.
As many as 100 platoons of Reserve forces including KSRP, CAR and RPF have been deployed along with the additional police forces to guard the city .
The protest can be organized at Freedom park but a gathering of more than five people at public places are prohibited as part of the prohibitory orders,Mr. Dayananda reiterated .
He further said that the police have been directed ensure no one is forcing the people to participate in the bandh and warned strict action against the violators .
Considering the previous experiences,the deployed is based on strategic locations to ensure smooth flow of traffic and the security can also be provided to the public transport or inter city buses based on the request he added.
