Protests were witnessed in different parts of the city on Wednesday, triggering tensed atmosphere for sometime.
It was a show of student power at Bogadi and near the Deputy Commissioner’s office, while the locals near St Bartholomew Church staged a flash strike in front of the church adjacent to KSRTC sub-urban bus stand on Bangalore-Nilgiri road, venting their ire against the Mysore City Corporation (MCC) for taking up the works on the autorickshaw stand.
Girl students from different colleges, staying in hostels in and around Bogadi, staged a flash strike, by blocking Mysore-Bogadi road for over two hours. The students got support in All India Democratic Youth Organisation (AIDYO), All India Students Organisation (AIDSO) and All India Mahila Samskruthika Sanghatane (AIMSS) and also locals. They squatted in the middle of the road, decrying the irregular bus services by the Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC).
According to the agitators, there are 800 students in two different hostels in Bogadi alone.
A majority of them depend on buses to travel to and from their colleges. However, at times, buses do not stop at designated stops, owing to rush. There are also instances when student pass holders are restrained by conductors, from boarding the buses. Due to the callousness of the KSRTC authorities, students are missing classes.
KSRTC officials, who rushed to the spot, gave in writing that six buses will be operated between 7.30 am and 10 am to help the students.
Auto stand
A section of locals staged a flash protest, opposing the proposed autorickshaw stand adjacent to St Bartholomew Church, beside the KSRTC sub-urban bus stand, in the city.
The agitators were angered after the MCC launched the works on the auto stand recently. They said, the stand was a temporary arrangement after the works on the new bus stand was launched.
According to the blue print of the bus stand, the stand was included in it. However, the civic authorities have decided to build the stand near the church, which has already proved inconvenient to the locals and devotees.
A section of auto drivers, who staged a counter protest, alleged that the protesters were acting at the behest of lodge owners.
ACP (Traffic) Prabhakar Bharki, who arrived on the spot, brokered peace by promising that he will take up the issue with MCC Commissioner C G Betsurmath.
College bandh
College bandh call given by the Student Federation of India (SFI), urging the government to solve the academic related issues, elicited mixed response. Some classes at Maharaja’s College, Maharani’s College, Maharaja’s Junior College were called off due to the bandh.
