EMOTIVE ISSUE: CPI city unit secretary Jangala Ajay Kumar and president of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, Athukuri Anjaneyulu protesting outside Andhra Bank's Koretipadu branch in Guntur on Thursday. — Photo: T. Vijaya Kumar

GUNTUR: A majority of commercial establishments and banks were closed in the city on Thursday when the Indian Chamber of Commerce and the Bank Employees' Union effectively enforced `trade bandh' protesting against shifting of the cheques clearing house from Guntur to Vijayawada.

The Chamber of Commerce had been organising relay fast for the past fortnight and had given the call for `trade bandh,' which passed off peacefully with 47 bank branches in the city remaining closed.

The Reserve Bank of India shifted the cheques clearing house from Guntur to Vijayawada under its policy to have one such facility within a radius of 50 km. The clearing house was functioning for only two days at Guntur currently and some traders and farmers were losing interest on large draft and cheque amounts for two to three days.

Police relieved

Streets and commercial areas in the city wore a deserted look and some mistook it for a measure coinciding with the `lunar eclipse.' With the agitation passing off peacefully following no resistance from the trading community, the police heaved a sigh of relief.

The chamber members said the district lost the High Court Bench, which was once here and despite several representations and agitations it had not returned. The Clearing House would also meet the same fate if it were not stopped from getting shifted.

The Indian Chamber of Commerce and political parties announced that if the RBI did not withdraw its decision, which was against the economic interests of the trading fraternity and the farming community, the agitation would be intensified.

Communist Party of India city unit secretary Jangala Ajay Kumar, CPI(M) leader Konda Rami Reddy, chamber president Athukuri Anjaneyulu actively participated in the forcible closure of banks and business establishments.

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