TENSION IN THE AIR: A policeman stands guard as people go about their business in Mangalore when curfew was relaxed on Tuesday.

MANGALORE: Curfew, which was in force for the fifth day on Tuesday, will be relaxed between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Wednesday. But Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which prohibits the assembly of five or more persons, will be in force during the period.

According to a press release issued by the district administration, curfew will be relaxed in all places where it has been imposed, namely Ullal, Mangalore city and Mangalore rural. Schools and colleges will function on Wednesday.

Mangalore city was calm on Tuesday, and trouble-prone areas such as Farangipet, Ullal, Bunder, Kudroli, Faisalnagar, Veeranagar, Kuttar, Thokkuttu, Padil and Alape were peaceful even when curfew was relaxed.

District in-charge Minister B. Nagaraja Shetty said Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and Minister for Energy H.D. Revanna were likely to tour the district on Wednesday.

Peace committee meets

A peace committee meeting held here on Tuesday decided to form ward-level peace committees, restrain youngsters from joining groups having ulterior motives, regulate the cattle trade and disregard all future calls for bandh.

People from all walks of life and different religions attended the meeting and all of them agreed that calls for bandhs should not be entertained.

N. Yogish Bhat, MLA, said the current crisis was the result of bandhs called by some organisations. He urged the district administration and the police to take strict action against those who called for bandhs.

Mr. Bhat said officials should put a stop to the illegal trade in cattle for slaughter and take steps to resolve other disputes on cattle trade.

The meeting also took note of the suggestion of Superintendent of Police B. Dayananda that youths from both communities should be asked to refrain from joining groups that foment communal discord. He pointed out that most of the trouble-mongers during bandhs were youths aged 16 and 25.

The meeting also decided to revive peace committees at the taluk and block levels.

Among others who attended the meeting were Mangalore Mayor K. Ashraf; Mr. Nagaraja Shetty; District Congress Committee president Blasius M. D'Souza; State Minority Commission chairman K.S.M. Masood; Madhav Bhandari, a leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh; and legislators from the district.

The fear remains

When curfew was relaxed on Tuesday morning, though buses were full and shops and markets crowded, people appeared to be in a hurry to get back home despite the fact that they had time till 7 p.m. A shroud of fear seemed to be lurking over the city.

Vegetables, eggs, chicken, fruit, flowers and bakery products started arriving in the markets quite early in the day. Newspaper and milk supplies were also normal. Prices of all commodities were high and market sources said it would take at least a week for prices to come down.

Central Market Merchants Association general secretary Hamid Kandak said that till Monday evening they did not know if it would be possible to handle the pressure on the wholesale vegetable, fruit and flower markets.

But thanks to coordination with markets in Bangalore, Hassan, Chikmagalur, Shimoga and Mysore, stocks arrived in time.

Old Bunder Wholesale, Kirana and Allied Merchants Association president G.G. Mohandas Prabhu said the distribution network was so well managed on Monday and Tuesday that all retailers were able to replenish stocks.

Wholesale market functionary Vishwanath Kamath asserted that there was no scarcity of any essential commodity in the wholesale market. There was ample stock of rice, wheat, maida, chilli, edible oils, jaggery and pulses.

Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry representative K.N.S. Shetty said the police had been requested to provide armed personnel to guard trucks carrying supplies, which arrived in the outskirts of Mangalore early in the morning on Tuesday.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail