Sudden hartal throws life out of gear

Thiruvananthapuram: The sudden statewide hartal called by Youth Congress on Monday made normal life miserable for the common man.
Since the shutdown was called in the wee hours of the day, school students who start the day early were the most affected. The model examination for SSLC students and practical examinations for higher secondary students were scheduled to begin on Monday. The communication from the education department, saying all exams have been postposed, came out by 7.30 am. By then, a good number of students had left for schools.

The hartal was total in the state and minor incidents of violence were reported from some parts. In most districts, vehicular movement was affected initially as hartal supporters tried to block the roads.

Train passengers were the worst hit as many were stranded at railway stations for want of vehicles to reach their final destinations. At Trivandrum Central station, police arranged vehicles for dropping passengers at select points in the capital city.

In Ernakulam and Kozhikode, hartal supporters forcibly closed shops. Even some offices were forcibly closed in some parts of the state. There were minor incidents of stone pelting at private vehicles in rural areas of the state.

Meanwhile, KSRTC operated its services in most of the places. The ‘vilapayatra’ procession (of buses damaged during hartals) taken out by the transport corporation seems to have worked this time. As many as 102 buses were damaged in the previous hartal on January 3 , causing an estimated loss of Rs 3.35 crore, while only less than a dozen buses bore the brunt of hartal supporters on Monday.

According to KSRTC MD MP Dinesh, KSRTC units were directed to operate services with police protection. The state carrier is yet to estimate the loss incurred on the day. Stones were hurled at buses in Thiruvananthapuram, Palakkad and Kunnamangalam. “The loss incurred could exceed Rs 15,000 as the windshields were broken. No injury to staff members was reported,” said a KSRTC official.

Bus services were mostly affected in central and north zone of KSRTC. Several depots such as Neyyattinkara, Vizhinjam, Adoor and Chathannoor, which started services from early morning, had to stop the services by 7am, after agitators staged protest at the depots.