K'taka bandh called on April 10

Kannada groups today gave a call for Karnataka bandh on April 10 to protest Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's statement that his government would go ahead with the Hogenakkal water project on which the two states are locked in a standoff.

The Kannada organisations, coming under the umbrella of Akhila Karnataka Gadi Horata Samithi (an organisation for protection of state's borders), requested all parties to support the bandh, Samithi President Vatal Nagaraj, a former MLA, said in a release.

A rally would also be organised on that day demanding Tamil Nadu stop work on Hogenakkal project, it said.

Representatives from Karantaka Film Chambers of Commerce, Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, Dalit Sangharsha Samithi, Kannada Sena and others participated in the Samithi meeting called here to chalk-out agitation programmes to highlight their stand.

A report from Mysore said Karnataka Rakshana Vedike activists stopped a Tamil Nadu state transport corportion bus which was heading towards Udhagamandalam in Tamil Nadu and deflated one of its tyres.

Tamil film industry reacted strongly to the attacks on the cinemas in Bangalore. The Tamil actors have decided to go on fast here on April 4, said a resolution passed by the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce at a meeting today. It also decided to suspend members from Karnataka from the chambers till the problem was solved.