PATNA: Patna observed near-total bandh on Monday on the call for nationwide bandh given by
dalit organisations against alleged “dilution” of the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
City buses remained off the roads; so did most of the autos. Commuters faced hardship as protesters blocked almost all the main routes. Officer-goers as well as schoolchildren appearing for the ongoing Central Board of Secondary Education’s examination, were the worst sufferers.
The few autos and e-rickshaw that were plying charged exorbitant fares. Ramna Road’s Suman Pandey said the CBSE should have cancelled the exam. “We had to go the examination centre at Digha, but protesters did not allow our car to move further from Kargil Chowk. A section of them even threatened to smash our vehicle if we didn’t go back,” she said and added they had to eventually take an alternate route.
Class XII student Shreya Gupta, who wrote her Hindi paper on Monday, said she had to walk a long distance to reach her examination centre. “E-rickshaw drivers were not ready to go towards Zero Mile and auto drivers were asking for double the fare for a ride from Kankerbagh to Patna Central School,” she said and added she faced similar situation on way back home after the examination.
Shops at most marketplaces, including Alpana Market, Dak Bungalow, Fraser Road, Boring Road-Boring Canal Road, Hathwa Market, Khetan Market and Patna Market, had their shutters down. Even shopping malls, supermarkets and plazas as well as most petrol pumps were shut.
There were few, if any, buyers at the wholesale vegetable markets like Anta Ghat and Mithapur. Eateries and cinema theatres also remained closed.
The bandh hit banking transactions too. A cooperative bank employee said even the cheque-clearing operations were adversely affected. “Many branches were virtually closed,” he said.
Flyers had a tough time reaching the city airport or returning from the airport. Sanjay Kumar of Boring Road could make it just 20 minutes before the scheduled departure of his flight. “There were protests and blockades on way. Thank God, ours is a small airport and I didn’t have to cover long distances for baggage scan, boarding pass, security check etc or else I would have definitely missed my flight,” he told this reporter over the phone.
Flights at the Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport, however, operated normally. “All flights were on time,” said an airport official.
