The Hindu : Other States / Pondicherry News : Karaikal shuts down on hartal call

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Friday, May 13, 2005

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Other States - Pondicherry

Karaikal shuts down on hartal call

Staff Reporter

Protest against move to shift ONGC offices

Work in Government offices, hospitals, transport and other essential services not affected

KARAIKAL: Shops and business establishments remained closed as the traders and the people of Karaikal observed a 12-hour hartal on Thursday in response to a call given by political parties and by the Karaikal Chamber of Commerce to protest against the move to shift the headquarters of the Oil and Natural Gas Commission from Karaikal to Mayiladuturai in Tamil Nadu.

Mayiladuturai is the home constituency of Mani Shankar Aiyar, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas.

According to S.P. Selvashanmugham, president of Pondicherry Cauvery Delta Farmers Legal Action Committee, the closure was total in Karaikal town and only a few petty shops in the rural areas of Tirunallar, Kottucherry, Vizhuthiyur, Ambakarathur, Neravy and Nedungadu were open.

The hartal, however, did not affect the working of the Government offices, hospitals, transport and other essential services.

The Karaikal district administration and police had made elaborate security arrangements. Police sources told The Hindu that the `hartal' was peaceful and total and no untoward incident was reported in Karaikal region.

Great success: Chamber

The Karaikal Chamber of Commerce claimed that the hartal was a great success.

G.K. Narayanasamy, president of the chamber, has claimed that Mr Aiyar was getting ready to shift the offices of the ONGC from Karaikal to Mayiladuturai.

He pointed out that the finance section of the ONGC had already been shifted to Mayiladuturai.

He said that a number of business establishments and other small-scale units in Karaikal were surviving because of the ONGC offices in the region.

M. Ramadass, Member of Parliament of Pondicherry, in a letter urged Mr. Aiyar to give up the idea of shifting the ONGC offices from Karaikal.

Mr Ramadass, who is also the leader of PMK Parliamentary Party, said that Karaikal came under the Pondicherry Lok Sabha constituency and it was his duty to protect the interest of the people of Karaikal. He pointed out that if the ONGC offices were shifted, trade in Karaikal would come to a halt. Mr Ramadass said that with the establishment of ONGC headquarters office at Karaikal, an enormous infrastructure had been created at Tirunallar.

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