Shops in the city remained closed during the morning hours on Monday. (Express photo by Arul Horizon)
Written by Arti Chouhan & Alex Michael Binoy
The city on Monday experienced a peaceful bandh, except for a few minor incidents of violence. Most of the shops remained closed till noon, as such people in some parts of the city were unable to buy daily necessities, particularly during the morning hours.
Some of the petrol pumps remained closed due to which people, using private transport, faced difficulty in travelling to their work. A resident from Baner was seen pushing his scooter to his home from work in Jungli Maharaj Road as he ran out of fuel.
“I am trying to get home to my wife, who is sick and needs to be taken to the hospital. Now, I have been pushing my scooter for 2kms in search of a petrol pump,” he said.
A worker from a restaurant in FC Road said, “We decided not open in the morning because we didn’t know how serious the situation was and all the restaurants in FC Road area were closed. Due to bandhs, we face a lot of losses in one day. We are not in favour of bandhs as it affects business.”
Business establishments in Dhole Patil Road remained closed while a few which were open were forced to shut.
Shilpa Patil, an employee working at PT Gera Center said that they have to return home after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and Congress workers forced them to shut down their office. Some people came and threatened to break the furniture and windows of the office unless we closed it.”
Later, she and her colleagues faced a similar incident at a restaurant in DP Road, where the political workers came and forced the restaurant to close.
Most of the schools, college and offices were open. To prevent any violence, police personnel were deployed in specific areas in each jurisdiction.