Bandh partial, peaceful in DK

Buses, autos remain off-road; shops closed in City, open in outskirts

The city remained shut in wake of the Bharat bandh called by the NDA and other opposition parties on Thursday opposing the hike in the price of diesel by Rs 5.62, capping of domestic LPG cylinder to six per year to each family and on government’s decision for open market through Foreign Direct Investment in retail sector.

As city and KSRTC buses remained off-road, life was severely affected. Schools, colleges, shops, private enterprises, shopping complexes too remained close. However, government offices such as MCC, Zilla Panchayat, post offices, few nationalised banks and others remained open even though there was severe shortage of staff.
The streets, markets seemed to be deserted and very few private vehicles were seen on the road.

Double meter

Even though many auto-rickshaws had decided to support the bandh, a few which were plying were trying to make maximum profit taking advantage of the situation. Many were not ready to run on meter and had hiked the fares double than the normal fare.

Bus and railways

Sources from KSRTC told that the bus services were stopped from 6.30 am. However, a few buses left to Mysore, Dharmastala before 6.30 am. The services resumed after 4 pm.
The bandh did not affect the railways as most of the trains were as per schedule.
However, Mangalore Railway station seemed to be deserted as many could not make it due to shortage of transport facilities.

"I had to catch a train to Mumbai. However, reaching the station was a struggle. I had to shell a lot on private arrangements,” said Michael from Bajpe.

Celebrations

Ganeshotsava celebrations seemed to be affected with bandh as there were very few sitting in the various pandals put up as part of celebrations.

People who had organised private functions had arranged for private bus and transport services to ply their guests to the venue.

Outskirts unaffected

The bandh did not affect life in the city outskirts. The Kerala government had staged bandh on the second day after the diesel prices were hiked, hence there was no bandh in Kerala.

Life seemed to be normal in areas of Karnataka-Kerala border. Shops were open and transport services were not affected near Ullal, Talappady.

Shops continued to remain open in city outskirts such as Kulshekar, Shaktinagar and other areas.

Medical facilities

Hospitals were open and ready to handle emergency cases. Most of the pharmacy shops remained open, even though there were a few customers.

Cops patrol

PCR vans and cops were seen on the streets, ready to handle any untoward incident.
Speaking to Deccan Herald, Police Commissioner Manish Kharbikar said that the bandh was peaceful and no untoward incident has been reported. The police were patrolling on streets and additional forces were also brought in to ensure safety and security, he said.

In Belthangady

Life was severely affected in Belthangady due to lack of transport facilities. A family was forced to spend to their day in the bus-stop as there was no transport to take them to their destination and no hotels to provide food.

Very few people visited banks and government offices even though they remained open.
Very few devotees visited Dharmasthala. However, shops were open as usual.