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Bangalore bandh evokes mixed response

Last Updated 31 July 2014, 21:21 IST

The dawn-to-dusk Bangalore bandh, called by a group of pro-Kannada organisations against the “increase” in sexual attacks on women and children, evoked a mixed response on Thursday.

Normal life was partially affected in the City as several business establishments, including restaurants, voluntarily downed the shutters, fearing trouble. Transport services were also disrupted as there were fewer autorickshaws and taxis on the road. The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) had scaled down its operations.

While no untoward incidents were reported during the bandh, miscreants pelted a BMTC Volvo bus with stones at Chandapur on Hosur Road. The police had stepped up security by deploying additional forces and warned mischief-mongers of stern action.
City Police Commissioner M N Reddi said that  the bandh had passed off peacefully.

School holiday

Most of the private educational institutions had declared a holiday. While government and government-aided schools were open, the attendance was thin.

According to the offices of the Deputy Director of Public Instruction, Bangalore South and Bangalore North, attendance in schools was 40 to 50 per cent less than that on normal days.

“We have a strength of 300 students. However, only 150 students turned up on Thursday. Many teachers also had taken leave,” said Chandrashekhar, vice principal, Old Fort High School, Chamarajpet.

While most of the malls, including Mantri, Gopalan and Gopalan Arcade, remained shut in the morning, they started functioning towards evening. Malls, however, saw this as an opportunity for a complete clean-up. Supermarkets remained closed through the day.

Most of the small eateries, bakeries, liquor shops and petrol bunks remained open. Even as most multiplexes had no shows, some single-screen theatres that had morning shows scheduled, were forced to shut by protesters.

Though a majority of the banks functioned, transactions were limited as several business establishments remained closed. Routine work was not much affected in government offices.

Hundreds of Kannada activists led by Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha leader Vatal Nagaraj, film producer Sa Ra Govindu and others took out a huge procession from Town Hall to Freedom Park. The procession led to traffic jams on the route and adjoining areas.

Earlier in the day, Siddaramaiah reviewed the bandh situation with Home Minister K J George, Director General and Inspector General of Police L R Pachuau and Police Commissioner M N Reddi.

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(Published 31 July 2014, 21:21 IST)

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