(Bloomberg) -- Flights were canceled, and schools and shops shut in the southern Indian state of Karnataka — home to technology giants such as Infosys Ltd. and Wipro Ltd. — as farmers protested against the sharing of the water of a key river with a neighboring state.

The day-long shutdown by the farmer groups disrupted normal life as protesters blocked railway tracks and disrupted road traffic. Police detained hundreds of agitators.

As many as 44 flights to and from the technology hub of Bengaluru, often referred as India’s Silicon Valley, were canceled because of the strike, the Press Trust of India reported, citing airport authorities. 

Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have a long-standing water-sharing dispute over the river Cauvery, which runs through both states. The two states argue that they need the river’s waters to help the millions of farmers in their region. 

The issue flared up this week after Cauvery Water Management Authority, a central government body set up to adjudicate the dispute, asked Karnataka to release some water to Tamil Nadu.

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