Bride From Bengaluru Walks For Hours As Cauvery Protests Hit Buses To Tamil Nadu

Bengaluru: A bride and her extended family walked several kms on Tuesday as public transport was missing from the roads and vehicles were stopped between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, a day after violent protests over the Cauvery water dispute.

R Prema, 25, is from Bengaluru and will be married tomorrow to a young man in Tamil Nadu.

The day before her wedding would have been a montage of happy rituals but for protests because of which there is no public transport between the two states for the second straight day.

So in her jewellery and silk sari, Prema has taken a bus, an auto and walked on the deserted roads to make it to Hosur in Tamil Nadu near the border. From there, the group plans to take a bus to Vaniyambadi, over 110 km away. NDTV caught up with her when she had just finished a four-km trek on the highway.

"We are missing a lot of joy, sir...the day has become unforgettable," bemoaned the disappointed bride, a commerce graduate.

"We are facing a lot of problems. We had sent out 600 invitations but now only 20 members are coming to the wedding," said Prema, adding, "This is not the right way, both states should understand we are all Indians and we are one India."

Members of the bride's procession have their hands full with clothes, utensils and gifts needed for the event.

Prema keeps getting calls from her anxious fiance.

On Monday, there was violence and arson on the streets of Bengaluru over a Supreme Court ruling that means that Karnataka has to give more water from the river Cauvery to Tamil Nadu than it had been asked to last week.

Buses travelling between the states were attacked by protesters on both sides. Mobs in Bengaluru set scores of Tamil Nadu registered buses on fire last night.

Karnataka has taken off state-run buses travelling to Tamil Nadu.

"We had to walk for miles and still can't find any bus," said an office-goer in Hosur.