Kalasa-Banduri stir intensifies

Routine life in Dharwad district came to a standstill on Wednesday as the dawn to dusk bandh observed demanding speedy implementation of Kalasa-Banduri canal project was total and peaceful.

The project involves construction of barrages across Kalasa and Banduri tributaries of the Mahadayi river to divert 7.56 TMC ft water to the Malaprabha river, which meets the drinking water needs of parts of north Karnataka.

The Kalasa-Banduri scheme will augment the water supply to Hubballi, Dharwad, Belagavi and Gadag. In Hubballi, protesters torched a Kadamba bus belonging to Goa State Road Transport Corporation, at the new bus station on Gokul Road in the early hours of Wednesday. The bus was scheduled to leave for Goa at 6 am and it was set ablaze around 3:30 am.

Shops, hotels and other business establishments in Hubballi remained closed till evening, while buses and autorickshaws kept off the roads. Road blockades were staged at different places, leaving the bus station market area deserted. During the bandh at Navalgund, effigies of prime minister and chief minister were burnt.