Kerala - Kochi   

Hartal total in Ernakulam district

Photo: H.Vibhu

In protest: Shops and commercial establishments in the district remained closed on the hartal day. A scene at Broadway in the city. -

KOCHI: The 12-hour hartal called by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) in Ernakulam district on Saturday was near total. Apart from a few skirmishes at some pockets, the hartal and accompanying protests by Congress activists were peaceful.

The KPCC gave the hartal call in protest against the attack on the District Congress Committee (DCC) office on Friday allegedly by Students Federation of India activists and the police lathicharge against the Congress and Youth Congress activists.

Many, including policemen and mediapersons, sustained injuries in the lathi charge.

Life was thrown out of gear, especially in the city, as public transport vehicles stayed off the road. Shops and commercial establishments remained shut.

The Congress workers took out a protest march from the DCC office to the City Police Commissioner’s office in the morning.

An uneasy calm prevailed in the city till afternoon, when the protests were called off, as a confrontation between the protesting activists and the police loomed large.

A heavy police force led by Assistant Commissioner P.M. Varghese, Circle Inspector G. Venu and Sub-Inspector Francis Shelbi was deployed across the city, especially near the DCC office.

The protesters blocked the traffic along MG Road during the course of their march and turned away all except two-wheelers. Shops were also forcibly closed.

Apart from essential services, wedding parties and funeral functions were also spared, Kerala Students Union president Hibi Eden said.

“As we do not want to subject the public to frequent hardships we have not planned prolonged protests,” V.J. Paulose, DCC president, said.

Private buses did not operate at all, while the KSRTC restricted its operations to inter-district services in convoy under police protection. Local services were ruled out owing to difficulties in getting police protection, an official said.

As attendance at the Aluva depot was less than half, only two services to Angamaly were operated. Only 25 per cent attendance was registered at the Collectorate.

However, the hartal did not affect the operation of public sector majors.

Attendance was normal and except for the fall in lorry movement there was no much disruption in operations, an official of Kochi Refineries Limited said.

At the Cochin Port Trust it was business as usual though the attendance fell to 60 per cent, sources said.

Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Limited was the least affected as it was a half-day for the unit, the public relations official said.

Train services remained normal. Except for a few roadside kiosks, hotels remained closed.

Educational institutions were mostly unaffected as it was a holiday for most schools and colleges.

Private taxies mostly kept off the roads though taxies at the Kochi airport plied after affixing the label “airport.”

Some autorickshaws operated in the morning but were forced to withdraw after the protesting activists smashed the glass panes of a vehicle near the South Railway Station.

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