Bangalore, Apr 18 (PTI): Normal life in the country's information-technology capital and several parts of Karnataka was crippled on Saturday by a 12-hour bandh called by pro-Kannada outfits to protest Tamil Nadu's opposition to a drinking water project on the Cauvery river

Bus, auto and taxi services were badly hit in the capital, leaving thousands stranded at many places.

Initial reports said the bandh had evoked a good response in Bangalore, Mysuru, Tumkuru, Mandya and several other places, where activists of pro-Kannada organisations staged protests.

In Bangalore, commercial establishments and malls remained closed.

Organisers of the bandh claimed it has the backing of about 600 to 700 Kannada organisations.

Auto drivers and truck operators and owners of petrol bunks, hotels, restaurants and the film industry are backing the bandh.

Vatal Nagaraj, whose Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha is spearheading the protest, said the dawn-to-dusk bandh is a show of strength of the people of Karnataka against Tamil Nadu.

No bus left Bangalore for destinations in Tamil Nadu or other parts of the state, officials said.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said the government is not supporting the bandh but the state is determined to go ahead with the Mekedatu project and appealed to people to maintain peace. 

Siddaramaiah, in his budget speech on March 13, had proposed preparing a detailed project report for construction of balancing reservoir upstream of the Mekedatu across Cauvery river in Ramanagara district. 

He had said global expression of interest had been invited, and Rs 25 crore provided in the coming fiscal. 

Farmers' bodies in Tamil Nadu had called for state bandh on March 28 over the issue to which several state political parties had expressed their support. 

The Tamil Nadu Assembly had also adopted a unanimous resolution urging the Centre to rein in Karnataka from going ahead with its plan to build the dam across the inter-state river.