Commuters unaffected, travellers stranded

The nation-wide strike observed on Tuesday received a good response in the City as a majority of autorickshaw drivers and trade unions participated in it.

With autos staying off the roads, taxis raked in the extra moolah, especially from passengers who were stranded at the pre-paid auto stand near the City Railway Station.

Priya, a housewife, who reached Bangalore from Chennai, said: “I had to go to Nagarathpet and the taxi driver demanded Rs 200 for the drop whereas it takes only Rs 40-50 in an auto.” She finally had a friend pick her up. Similar fate awaited Ashish, who had landed here from New Delhi.

The strike, however, did not affect hospitals in the City, as ambulances had a smooth ride with less traffic plying on the roads.

For schools too, it was routine. People actually did not seem to mind a day without autos on the roads. 

“Not many students travel to school by auto, unless they have hired autos as regular transport to schools. There has been no attendance problem in the school today,” Selvi, a senior teacher at Cecilia High School, told Deccan Herald.

The availability of BMTC buses largely negated any transport problems. Also, since the strike was planned earlier, there was enough time for the public to prepare for it.

“We were informed a day earlier about the strike by the autodriver who picks up our granddaughter. So I picked her up from school today,” said Pushpa, whose granddaughter studies in a private school in Shivajinagar. 

Tuesday also saw an unusually large number of parents queueing up before schools to either drop or pick up their children. 

The security guard at Good Shepherd School said: “In cases where both parents are working, it caused some inconvenience. Except for a few students who were waiting for longer than usual to be picked up by parents, the strike did not create much hassle.” 

A few schools in the city shut down for the day anticipating trouble.  Both the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and the Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU) were pleased with the participation.
“Working Unions of Bangalore responded positively to the strike call given by us. The strike was a complete success in all industrial areas of Bangalore and Doddaballapura, Bommasandra, Bellary Road, Jigani and Anekal,” AITUC General Secretary M D Harigovind said. V J K Nair, CITU State President, expressing satisfaction over the participation, said: “The response was more than expected.”

Protests throw traffic out of gearTraffic in and around Corporation Circle and Town Hall came to a standstill for nearly three hours, on Tuesday, due to protest rallies taken out by various organisations. The situation seemed to go out of control, when thousands of protesters started marching towards Bannappa Park.

Traffic on the stretch between Town Hall and Minerva Circle came to a halt for a couple of hours. The situation was no different on K G Road, Nrupathunga Road and Hudson Circle.

An ambulance carrying a patient was caught in the traffic for an hour at Hudson Circle. The police had to resort to mild caning to ensure that the protesters did not go berserk at Bannappa Park.

Traffic was affected on Seshadri, Goodshed and Platform Roads as well. The situation returned to normalcy by 2.30 in the afternoon.

Protests throw traffic out of gearTraffic in and around Corporation Circle and Town Hall came to a standstill for nearly three hours, on Tuesday, due to protest rallies taken out by various organisations.The situation seemed to go out of control, when thousands of protesters started marching towards Bannappa Park.

Traffic on the stretch between Town Hall and Minerva Circle came to a halt for a couple of hours.

The situation was no different on K G Road, Nrupathunga Road and Hudson Circle.An ambulance carrying a patient was caught in the traffic for an hour at Hudson Circle.The police had to resort to mild caning to ensure that the protesters did not go berserk at Bannappa Park.

Traffic was affected on Seshadri, Goodshed and Platform Roads as well. The situation returned to normalcy by 2.30 in the afternoon.