City takes a forced holiday

City takes a forced holiday

The Hindu

Buses, autorickshaws off the road; schools, most offices closed





Bangalore: Barring a few minor incidents, the bandh to protest against the Centre's "step motherly" treatment over the border row with Maharashtra was total and peaceful in Bangalore on Wednesday.

The police caned a mob near Pantharapalya on Mysore Road at around 9.30 a.m. One police constable was injured.

Four Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses and two Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses were damaged in stone throwing incidents elsewhere.

The normally busy roads were deserted as all shops, commercial establishments, and schools were shut. Government offices remained open but registered thin attendance while most software companies and business outsourcing firms were closed.

Some of these firms got round the bandh by putting off schedules, diverting work to other call centres in the country and asking Tuesday's night shift staff to continue work till 6 p.m. on Wednesday when the bandh was officially over.

An Infosys spokesperson said: "We have declared a holiday today and will work on October 14 instead. However, the critical facilities in all the eight centres in the State worked," she said.

With buses and autorickshaws off the road, people found it difficult to reach their destinations. A few cars and motorcycles were seen plying.

Nearly 30 Kannada activists, including Kannada Sahitya Parishat president Chandrashekhar Patil (Champa) and Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha MLA Vatal Nagaraj came in a procession to the Raj Bhavan to submit a memorandum to the Governor. But they were prevented from doing so. They were arrested and released later. This was followed by a protest march in front of Raj Bhavan by Kannada Rakshana Vedike activists.

Effigies of Union Home Minister V. Shivraj Patil and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil were burnt at various places.

Kannada Rakshana Vedike president Narayana Gowda was taken into custody along with 150 activists near the City Railway Station when they attempted to enter the premises to stop trains.

Train services were normal throughout the State while air services were not affected.

Enthusiastic youth displaying Kannada flags took out motorcycle rallies in different parts of the city. Several restaurants and private companies hoisted Kannada flags to escape stone throwing.

In an attempt to prevent a repetition of violence that followed Thespian Rajkumar's death, the police were ready with full security. Around 16,000 police personnel, including 35 platoons of KSRP, 600 Home Guards, four CRPF companies, one company of Rapid Action Force and two companies of Tamil Nadu Special Police were deployed in the city.

Police Commissioner N. Achuta Rao went around the city to supervise security arrangements.

The Commissioner commended his force and credited people for making the bandh violence-free. He told The Hindu that the police had collected information and augmented security wherever necessary.

Loss of Rs. 9 crore

The State transport undertakings suffered a revenue loss of Rs. 9 crore on Wednesday on account of the bandh.

All the 20,000 buses of the KSRTC, North West KRTC, North East KRTC and BMTC remained off the road. Private buses were not seen in operation.

KSRTC and BMTC Managing Director Upendra Tripathy told The Hindu that the loss of revenue and repair cost of damaged buses was around Rs. 9 crore. Four KSRTC buses, including a Volvo and two BMTC buses, were damaged, Mr. Tripathy said.

Only a few inter-State KSRTC services leaving Bangalore early in the morning were operated, said Bhaskar Rao, Director (Security and Vigilance), KSRTC.

Around 650 buses arrived in the city before 6 a.m. and the passengers were taken to their destination by BMTC buses, Mr. Rao said.

Trains detained

Train services remained largely unaffected but for a few cases of detention of trains in parts of the State.

The Chamundi Express was detained at Channapatna for 12 minutes while the Shimoga-Bangalore Passenger was detained at Tumkur for 15 minutes.

The Shatabdi Express was detained for two minutes at Taykal and at Malur for 14 minutes.

Kannada Rakshana Vedike activists detained the Karnataka Express arriving from New Delhi at Cantonment Railway station for 10 minutes.