Bandh likely to hit life in Bengaluru tomorrow

Normal life in the City may be hit on Saturday in view of the Karnataka bandh call given by various Kannada organisations to protest against Tamil Nadu’s opposition to the construction of a dam at Mekedatu in Ramanagara district.

Essential goods and services such as milk, hospitals, medical shops and ambulances will be exempted. Several autorickshaw and taxi unions, government employees’ unions have also announced their support for the bandh. KSRTC General Manager (Traffic), Vishwanath, said:

“There will be skeletal services in the morning hours. We will decide for the rest of the day depending on the situation.”

We will wait for police advisory in this regard, he added. Though Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) officials were non-committal, sources said that the corporation will ply less number of buses compared to regular days and it will decide on further action depending on the law and order situation.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola said: “We are keeping a close watch on the situation and depending on what the police suggest, we will decide whether to ply less trains or not ply at all.”

 Manjunath, president of Adarsh Auto Drivers Union, said: “We are extending full support to the bandh and our association autorickshaws will be off roads.”

Bangalore Tourist Taxi Owners Association is also supporting the bandh, said Association General Secretary RK Holla in a statement. Though the taxi operators’ association have extended support to the bandh, they said that emergency services will ply to the airport. Taxi aggregators, such as Taxi For Sure, said their services will function normally.