Title - Bandh total in Mysore, Chamarajanagar

State-run buses remained off the road in both the districts; protests staged against Union government The bandh called by the National Democratic Alliance and other parties on Thursday was total and peaceful in Mysore city as business establishments and the trading community downed shutters.The bandh was called in protest against the recent decisions of the Union government to hike the diesel price, allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in the retail sector and impose a cap on the number of domestic LPG cylinders provided at a subsidised rate.State-run buses were off the road. The divers of the few autorickshaws that were plying were demanding hefty charges. Schools and colleges were closed. Attendance in government offices was thin as many could not make it in the absence of public transport. Though some drivers tried to run the city buses, they were stopped by activists supporting the bandh.There were reports of petrol and diesel being sold in bottles in some parts of the city as petrol stations remained closed.

Very few customers

Footpath vendors sold fruits and flowers around the Dufferin Clock Tower and Sayyaji Rao Road. Though a few stalls in the Devaraja Market complex were open, there were a few customers. Hotels and restaurants in the city were also closed for the day. Shops and business establishments on roads such as D. Devaraja Urs Road, Dhanwantri Road, Irwin Road and Ashoka Road remained closed. Vehicle movement was sparse on these roads.

Though some banks were opened in the morning, they were forced to close for the day after supporters of the bandh, who moved around on motorcycles in the city, asked the authorities to do so.

The bandh had an effect on the number of visitors to the State-run K.R. Hospital here. Chemists and druggists, however, did business as usual.

Train services, however, remained normal and there was not much of a variation in terms of passengers utilising the services across the Mysore division, according to railway authorities here.

BJP activists, led by Mysore district in-charge Minister S.A. Ramdas, staged a demonstration at Agrahara Circle against the Union government’s decision to impose a cap on the number of domestic LPG cylinders provided at a subsidised rate.

The police had made elaborate security arrangements in the city to prevent any untoward incident. Police vans with additional personnel were stationed at important junctions and at major bus-stands.

Shops and business establishments remained open at Bogadi and other localities on the city’s outskirts.

Activists of the Janata Dal (Secular), the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) took out a motorcycle rally from Ramaswamy Circle, covering Chamaraja Double Road, New Sayyaji Rao Road, K.R. Circle and Devaraja Urs Road in support of the bandh.

Mysore City Local Lorry Owners Association members kept their vehicles off road as a mark of protest against the hike in the diesel price. They staged a demonstration at outside the court premises in the morning.

Peaceful

Correspondent from Chamarajanagar writes:

The day passed off peacefully in Chamarajanagar district too. Deputy Commissioner K.R. Sundar had declared a holiday for schools and colleges. Business establishments, shops, hotels and theatres remained closed and thoroughfares in Chamarajanagar town remained deserted for most part of the day.

Commuters were stranded at bus-stands as State-run buses, private buses and autorickshaws remained off the road.

Hospitals and other emergency services functioned as usual. However, there were very few outpatients at the District Government Hospital. Attendance was thin in government offices.

Effigies burnt

A large number of activists of the BJP, JD(S) and pro-Kannada organisations staged a dharna and burnt effigies of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and the Union government in protests against the order of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is also chairman of the Cauvery River Authority, to release 9,000 cusecs of the Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu till October 15.

BJP activists were seen forcing traders to down shutters in support of the bandh.

The district police had made elaborate security arrangements.