Two bandhs in as many weeks have been called in Karnataka over the raging dispute over the water sharing of Mahadayi river.

Pro-Kannada organisations and farmers have called a bandh on 25 January across the state. A second bandh has been called for 4 February to be observed in Bengaluru. Incidentally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the city on the same day to attend BJP’s Parivarthana rally.

The bandhs have been called to demand the implementation of the Kalasa-Banduri dam project. The project, which has been hanging since 2002, was expected to provide water to the parched North Karnataka by diverting a portion of the water.

Karnataka seeks the release of 7.56 tmcft water to improve drinking water supply to the twin cities of Hubballi-Dharwad and districts of Belagavi and Gadag.

There has been no headway ever since Goa objected to sharing of water claiming that such a move will cause ecological damage to the state.

Yet not everyone is supporting the bandh. Though Vatal Nagaraj, the leader of Kannada Chalavali Vatal Paksha (KCVP), claims that about 2,000 Kannada outfits are backing the call, some activists say that they were not taken into confidence.

According to a media reports, the activists have said that they won’t support the bandh call for 25 January. They have raised concerns about alienation of the people who might feel inconvenienced due to frequent bandhs.

In December 2017 the exchange of letters between state BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa and Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar over the Mahadayi dispute had sparked a controversy with Karanataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah taking offence.

Though Parrikar expressed his willingness to share “reasonable” amount of water “on humanitarian grounds”, the state’s Water Resources Minister Vinod Palienkar refused to share even “a drop of water”.

The river originates in Karnataka and flows for 29 kilometres through the state. The river in Goa, where it is known as Mandovi, flows for 52 kilometres.

Though the bandhs have been organised to pressurise the PM to intervene in the dispute, the activists are unhappy with both Congress and the BJP for playing politics as the state heads to polls in April-May 2018.