Bengaluru bandh: What to know if you are travelling in the city today | All the details

Ola, Uber Drivers and Owners Association President Tanveer Pasha announced support for the bandh and decided to stay off the roads on Tuesday.

All schools and colleges in Bengaluru are closed on Tuesday after the 'Bengaluru Bandh' call announced by farmers and pro-Kannada groups over Cauvery river water row.

The groups had called for a Bengaluru bandh from 6 am to 6 pm on September 26 to protest the contentious release of the Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu from Karnataka.

What's closed

Schools, colleges, private banks, transport, shops, commercial establishments, and restaurants and hotels expected to be closed today.
Ola, Uber Drivers may stay off the roads today.

KSRTC and BMTC services are likely to be affected.

Many schools switched to online mode of classes, while some postponed exams that were scheduled on Tuesday. The Bangalore University and Bengaluru City University have also postponed exams scheduled on Tuesday.

What's open

Essential services such as hospitals, nursing homes, medical shops, emergency services, petrol pumps, water supply, electricity, and sanitation services are expected to remain open. Considering law and order situation in the city, Section 144 has been enforced.

Government offices and Namma Metro Services will also remain functional on Tuesday, September 26, during the state-wide bandh.

Private cabs will be available and restaurants are likely to be open.
Students and parents have been asked to contact their respective school administrators and teachers for more updates

Another bandh on September 29

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said his government will not curtail the protests and bandh call, but underlined the importance of maintenance of peace, adding that he will place his argument more forcefully before the Supreme Court on the issue, when it next comes up for hearing.

Several Kannada outfits, under the banner 'Kannada Okkuta' led by Kannada activists Vatal Nagaraj have called for state-wide bandh on September 29.

What is the Cauvery dispute all about?

The dispute goes back to as far as 1974. Considered a lifeline for many, the Cauvery river originates in Karnataka and flows through Tamil Nadu and Puducherry before it enters the Bay of Bengal.

In 1924, Tamil Nadu built the Mettur dam over the river, and the two states signed an agreement effective for 50 years. When the agreement ended in 1974, Karnataka claimed the accord had restricted farming activities along the Cauvery basin and to make up lost time began building reservoirs that led to dispute between the two states.

In May 1990, the Supreme Court directed the Centre to set up a tribunal and the CWDT was born. In 2007, after many hearings and riots, the tribunal on 5 February ruled that of the 740 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of water available to utilise, 419 TMC would go to Tamil Nadu, 270 TMC to Karnataka, 30 TMC to Kerala and seven TMC to Puducherry. The remaining 14 TMC was reserved for environmental protection.

Karnataka, unhappy with the ruling, filed a petition in the apex court and in 2018, the Supreme Court in its final order allocated Karnataka with an 14.75 TMC, taking its total to 284.75 TMC per year while Tamil Nadu would get 404.25 TMC. Kerala and Puducherry would get 30 TMC and 7, TMC respectively.