City braces for bandh tomorrow
Ruling BJP calls for people’s participation
The City is likely to see a complete shutdown of services on Thursday owing to a one-day bandh called by the National Democratic Alliance and other opposition parties to protest against the recent hike in the prices of diesel.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the State on Tuesday called upon people to take part in the bandh, hinting that all services, especially transport, would be affected. Essential services will not be hit.
The BJP has asked labour and transport organisations, industries and commercial shops and establishments and citizens to participate in the bandh and thereby force the Centre to roll back the hike in diesel prices, restriction on subsidised cooking gas and the introduction of FDI in retail.
Some schools such as RV Institution and St Joseph’s on Tuesday said that they would announce their decision after taking stock of the situation on Wednesday. Colleges, too, are in a dilemma with no directions issued from the department to call off classes. Some educational institutions have declared Thursday a holiday. This has also resulted in the postponement of first-term examinations in some schools.
Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation and Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation have decided to operate their services.
Most autorickshaw drivers said their vehicles would be off the road. M Manjunath, president of Adarsha Auto and Taxi Drivers Union, said 17,000 autos under the union would not ply on Thursday. “We do not support the bandh, but our drivers have chosen not to ply their autorickshaws as they fear attacks on their vehicles,” he said.
Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) has stated that there will be no shutting of their services on account of the all-India bandh. “Namma Metro services will be in place. But we may be forced to shut the services if some untoward incident occurs,” said a BMRCL spokesperson.
L R Pachau, DG&IG (in charge) Karnataka State Police, told Deccan Herald: “There will be elaborate security arrangements for the sensitive Ganesha festival in major towns and cities. The security arrangements will continue for Thursday’s bandh. We have talked to all district superintendents of police and done our best to ensure that law and order is maintained on bandh day.”
Two companies of Central paramilitary forces will arrive here soon to beef up security in the State.
Pachau added that the police would ensure that the emergency services would not be affected on account of the bandh.
What’s on?
* Essential services like milk, medical shops etc
* Namma Metro services
* BMTC and KSRTC buses, depending on the situation
What’s off?
* Autorickshaws
* First term exams in some schools
