Normal life disrupted in several parts of the country as a combined Opposition protests against fuel price hike
KARNATAKA
The impact of the nationwide strike was felt in several parts of the state. All schools, colleges, private offices and commercial establishments were shut down. State-run buses, as well as private taxis and autos, were off the roads, even as over 20 buses were damaged by protesters at various places in capital Bangalore.
The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, which runs bus services in the state and to neighbouring states, and the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation, which services the city, withdrew their buses after many buses were stoned in Bangalore and other parts of the state, Transport Minister R Ashok told reporters.
As an exception, ambulances, police patrol vehicles and a few two-wheelers and cars were visible on some city roads.
The scene at the Bangalore international airport near Devanahalli, about 40 km from the city centre, was no different as about 1,200 passengers, who had arrived since morning, were left stranded as no taxis and state-run Volvo buses were operating till 6 pm.
People at the three main railway stations across the city were also stranded in absence of any transport mode.
Life in Bangalore, also an information technology (IT) hub, was also affected with hundreds of IT firms, including homegrown Infosys and Wipro as well as several multinational ones, logging out for the day.
Ruling BJP legislators disrupted the Assembly proceedings to protest against the rise in fuel prices. Subsequently, Speaker K G Bopaiah adjourned the house till Tuesday.
DELHI
An Opposition-sponsored nationwide strike against price rise did not evoke much response in the national capital today, barring some areas where activists of the main Opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Left parties blocked road and rail traffic and forcibly shut shops.
Prominent leaders Nitin Gadkari and Rajnath Singh (BJP), Sharad Yadav (JD-U), Brinda Karat (CPI-M) and CPI's A B Bardhan and D Raja courted arrest in separate protests across the city. A large number of activists were also detained.
Most of the markets, including the ones at Sarojini Nagar, Lajpat Nagar and Greater Kailash, remained open while buses, autos and private vehicles were on the streets from the morning.
However, Delhi Metro rail commuters faced some hardships as BJP workers organised protests at some stations, including the busy Rajiv Chowk. Several schools, including the ones run by Delhi Public School (DPS) Society, remained closed.
Services at the inter-state bus terminals at Anand Vihar and Kashmere Gate were also affected during the morning hours with BJP workers blocking its its entrances.
The protestors were later chased away by police.
Protestors deflated tyres of several vehicles in the city. In Janakpuri near Tihar Jail, a DTC low-floor bus was partially damaged when protestors set it on fire. No one was injured in the incident.
WEST BENGAL
Less than a fortnight after the Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU)-backed transport strike brought Kolkata to its knees, the Opposition-sponsored nationwide shutdown emptied the usually chaotic roads of West Bengal’s capital again on Monday.
The railway network was substantially affected early in the day due to agitation at various stations. The Eastern Railway and the Southern Eastern Railway reported at least 75 obstructions and cancelled 24 trains.
“This morning, I’ve had to walk for about an hour from Santragachi Junction, where my train was stopped, to Howrah station. I have another train to catch this evening from Sealdah station but I don't know how to get there now,” said Sajal Guha, lying on the floor inside the red-brick Howrah station.
Meanwhile, Air India was the only airline to maintain service at the Kolkata airport, even as private carriers only operated base flights. Eighteen domestic and six international flights flew out of the city early in the day, airport officials said.
The metro rail, however, remained open, providing the only reliable mode of transport. Metro officials said that regular service was being maintained, but the ridership was half the usual figure of 500,000.
The impact on Kolkata’s IT industry was tangible. Industry representatives said that attendance in major firms, including TCS, CTS and Wipro, was between 25 and 30 per cent, while those at BPO firms stood at about 60 per cent.
“We are fared better than other cities, but such a nationwide shutdown is not a good sign when we are competing with other countries,” Sector V Industries Forum vice-president Kalyan Kar said. Sector V is Kolkata’s IT hub.
ANDHRA PRADESH
The effect of the nationwide strike, which was marked by rallies and protests, was partial in the state but caused inconvenience to commuters due to curtailed public transport operations.
Shops and business establishments remained closed in the state.
State-run Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation, the largest fleet owner of buses, suffered a revenue loss in the range of 30 to 40 per cent on Monday, as compared with its normal operations. The corporation started off on a cautious note, withdrawing several services during the day. However, as the day progressed, it had 70 to 80 per cent of the buses in operations.
In the Greater Hyderabad zone, the corporation suffered losses to the tune of Rs 60 lakh till afternoon. The zone has about 3,000 buses and it could ply only 70 per cent of them till afternoon.
On the other hand, IT services, which were recently brought under the ambit of the Essential Services Maintenance Act, functioned as usual. The state had recently set up an industrial task force to ensure safety to the employees and property of the companies. Patrolling of the task force around the areas where the companies are located was increased.
Information Technology and Services Industry Association of Andhra Pradesh president L Suresh said no company complained of any difficulty created by the activists enforcing the bandh.
The nationwide bandh did not affect port activities, according to Kakinada Port chief executive officer Prasad. “Our work is as usual. No port activity has been hit,” he said.
KERALA
The bandh called by Left parties and BJP-led NDA crippled life in the Left-ruled Kerala as government offices, banks, educational institutions and other establishments remained closed and all roads, including the national highways, wore a deserted look.
In the capital Thiruvananthapuram, life came to a standstill as offices, shops and other establishments were closed.
However, movement of trains across the state was normal and all the three international airports functioned without hindrance.
Barring a few stray incidents of hindering of vehicular movement, no major incident of violence was reported from the state. Shops and establishments were closed almost throughout the state.
In Kochi, major offices and markets were closed down and vehicular traffic was affected. Only two-wheelers were allowed to run, as the protesters hindered movement of heavy vehicles and cars from early morning.
The functioning of the Cochin port was partially affected, as around 30 per cent of the employees attended their work.
ASSAM
The 12-hour shutdown on Monday was total in Assam with Guwahati, along with other major towns, witnessing an a near-complete shutdown. No report of any untoward incident has been reported from any part of the state till evening.
Most of the government and private offices, schools and colleges remained closed and no public transport, except a handful of government-run busses, were seen on the roads in Guwahati. Even private vehicles remained off the roads in the city.
Shops and market establishments were closed and train services were also affected. Many trains were either rescheduled, cancelled or regulated in the wake of the strike.
The BJP activists held protest demonstration by blocking an arterial road in Guwahati. Later, the state BJP president, along with other activists, courted arrests. The Left parties, too, held protest rallies in the city.
PUNJAB
Normal life came to standstill in Punjab as shops, malls, schools and commercial establishments in all major cities remained closed during the day-long shutdown.
According to reports, normal life in the state’s major cities such as Phagwara, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Amritsar, was disrupted by the bandh. The roads were deserted in all these cities.
However, in some other cities, the effect was less as industries were partially open.
The 12-hour bandh also crippled the industrial production in the state as the movement of cargo could not take place.
GUJARAT
It was an uncommon sight of deserted streets on the first working day of the week in Gujarat. For a state where strikes are almost unheard of, the call for a nationwide bandh, supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which also rules the state, turned out to be a success as both public and private transport were off the roads.
So much was the anticipation of the bandh that industries in Vadodara asked their employees to work on Sunday in lieu of Monday.
“Industries in Vadodara had anticipated that the bandh would be successful. Hence, many of them also worked on Sunday in advance to avoid any disruption to their businesses,” said K S Chhabra, chairman, media coordination committee, Federation of Gujarat Industries.
Though public transport remained off the roads for many hours in cities like Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat, government offices were working in the capital city of Gandhinagar.
ORISSA
The dawn-to-dusk bandh affected normal life in Orissa, disrupting rail and road traffic in various parts of the state.
Vehicular traffic at the national highways and roads was paralysed and trains were reported to be running late as the bandh supporters squatted on the tracks at the major railway stations, obstructing rail movement.
The protesters also picketed various central government offices, preventing employees from reporting for duty. Shops and business establishments across the state downed their shutters apprehending attack by the bandh supporters even though a few drug stores remained open.
The protesters prevented the employees of National Aluminium Company to enter the corporate office in capital Bhubaneswar but the company’s production units at Damanjodi and Angul functioned normally.
Operations at the Rourkela Steel Plant were reported to be normal.
The mining activities were severely paralysed as the labourers failed to turn up for duty because of the bandh, said R K Jena, chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry (Orissa).
UTTAR PRADESH
The call for a ‘Bharat Bandh’ given by Opposition parties on Monday evoked a mixed response in Uttar Pradesh.
While, the main markets in Lucknow and other major towns in the state had partially downed shutters on the bandh call, the wholesale and medicine markets were open.
The BJP and Samajwadi Party activists had a face-off with the police and security personnel at several places in UP, including capital Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Varanasi and Allahabad.
Police had to resort to lathicharge and used water cannon to disperse the activists holding placards and shouting slogans against inflation and fuel price hike.
Top leaders, including Arun Jaitley, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Lalji Tandon of BJP and Shivpal Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Singh Yadav, Ahmad Hasan and Bhagwati Singh of SP were arrested for defying the prohibitory orders in the state capital.
Besides, the movement of train and road traffic was disrupted at several places.
TAMIL NADU
The nationwide bandh called by the Opposition NDA and the Left against the fuel price hike evoked a lukewarm response in Tamil Nadu today.
Public transport, educational institutions, the banking sector and other business establishments functioned normally as the bandh, supported by the state’s main opposition party AIADMK and its allies, did not affect normal life, police said.
Rail services were not affected till 9 am.
“All trains coming to the city were on time,” railway sources said.
However, four Kolkata-bound flights were cancelled following the strike in Left-ruled West Bengal, airport sources said, adding flights to other cities remained unaffected.
Security has been stepped up at important places like railway stations, power units, high court premises and telephone exchanges, police said.
Mumbai among worst-hit
MAHARASHTRA
The Opposition-sponsored Bharat Bandh brought Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra to a standstill. Stray incidents of violence, stone pelting and arson were reported, the police said.
Approximately 155 buses of BEST were damaged and eight drivers and conductors suffered injuries. Nearly 60 buses of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation and 30 buses of the Pune Transport Service were also damaged. Protesters set tyres alight, putting up blockades at major intersections and threw stones to force people to stay back home. In Gadchiroli, Naxals were allegedly involved in incidents of arson.
At least 86 domestic flights – 46 outgoing and 40 incoming – were cancelled to and from the financial capital as passengers had to stay put and could not reach the airport.
The usually bustling Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, one of the busiest in the country, wore a near-deserted look as taxis and autorickshaws remained off the roads.
Shutters were down at major markets, as small groups roamed the streets to enforce the strike. Security personnel were deployed in large numbers to maintain law and order.
The Maharashtra secretariat and Mantralaya recorded only 25 per cent attendance, despite a government directive asking all employees to be present. Sources said action would be taken against employees who failed to attend office.
