The ‘Bharth Bandh’ called against the hike in price of petrol bagged outstanding response in Kodagu and Chikmagalur districts. No untoward incidents took place in both the districts, which led to the passing of the bandh peacefully.
In Kodagu, the response for bandh in important cities like Kushalnagar, Gonikoppa, Somwarpet, Virajpet, Shanivarasanthe, Siddapura and district headquarters Madikeri was overwhelming.
The BJP activists gathered at General Thimmaiah Circle in the morning and shouted out slogans against the Center’s move of increasing petroleum cost by Rs 7.50. The vendors, traders, shopkeepers voluntarily kept their shops closed supporting the bandh.
Public transportation vehicles remained off road completely. Neither public sector carriers nor private buses came out on street. The result was that both KSRTC depot and private bus shelter wore deserted look. Even autos remained off road causing lot of inconvenience to people.
Deputy Commissioner Dr N V Prasad had declared holiday for schools and college as precautionary measure. Most of the government offices too remained closed because majority of the staff could turn up.
The response was the same in Kushalnagar and Suntikoppa too. All shops remained closed from 6 am to 6 pm in protest against hike in petroleum cost. The bandh was total even in small villages like Kudige, Guddehosur and nearby areas.
In Somwarpet, the response to the bandh was very encouraging. The BJP activists had kept a tight vigil on the shops and commercial complexes. They had warned the shop owners to keep the shops closed till evening. Banks, schools, colleges etc remained closed.
In Gonikoppa, though some buses plied till 8 am, it was soon stopped for the success of the bandh. Trade was completely halted at Titimati, Hudikeri, Balele, Ponnampet, Palibetta, Kutta and nearby areas. At Ponnampet nationalised banks and few other government offices were kept open till 10 am.
In Chikmagalur
Chikmagalur district too witnessed outstanding response for the bandh on Thursday. The extent of success of the bandh only held mirror to the feelings of the people, who are fed up of growing inflation and price rise.
Barring Sringeri, which has mixed response, all other towns like Chikmagalur, Kadur, Tarikere, Mudigere, Koppa and NR Pura had good response with almost every shop in these towns remaining closed.
Government and private buses remained off road along with the autos. Post office, telecom department, schools and colleges remained closed, but Deputy Commissioner’s office functioned as usual. Most of the staff had come to duty as usual.
The Court too remained untouched by the bandh. On Wednesday evening the BJP activists had gone announcing across the city urging everyone to join hands for the success of the bandh.
Since most of the hotels and shops were closed, the passengers travelling to various places from Chikmagalur and those who remained stranded in Chikmagalur had to struggle to get even a glass of water. They were seen sleeping and taking shelter at bus shelters and outside the shops. Amidst this, the small roadside vendors selling sugarcane juice, cucumber slices etc made good brisk business. Meanwhile, many vehicle owners had to run from pillar to post to get even a litre of petrol and diesel as petrol pumps were also closed.
Making the best use of the empty roads, kids and youth were seen playing cricket on the roads, without any interruption from vehicles.
However, the weddings and other auspicious ceremonies planned on Thursday went on swiftly without any problems.
