Kerala - Thrissur   

Motor strike hits normal life in Thrissur

PHOTO: K. K. Najeeb

For a living: A vendor waits in vain for customers at the deserted Sakthan Thampuran market in Thrissur on the motor strike day on Tuesday. —

Thrissur: The State-wide motor strike called by the coordination committee of bus workers in protest against the hike in fuel prices hit normal life in the district on Tuesday.

Taxis and autorickshaws remained off the road. A section of Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) workers also joined the strike. Some private cars and jeeps and a large number of two-wheelers were seen plying.

The agitators blocked a few KSRTC buses that began their services from Thrissur. The strike caused inconvenience to the public as it affected the functioning of government offices and schools.

Most of the schools were closed and government offices functioned with only a thin attendance.

The agitators took out a rally in the city.

Meanwhile, the motor strike turned into a hartal-like situation as many shops and commercial establishments remained closed.

The Kerala Samsthana Vyapari Vyavasayi Samithy had called for a state-wide protest against the anti-people proposals in the Union Budget.

In its release, the Samithy said that the increase in petroleum product prices would have a cascading effect on prices of essential goods. The Union Government had totally ignored traders and small industries, it added.

In Kottayam

Staff Reporter writes from Kottayam:

The strike was total and peaceful, barring some minor incidents in the district.

According to the police, a case has been filed against miscreants who pelted stones at an outlet of a retail chain at Changanassery. Colleges and schools remained closed. Mahatma Gandhi University had postponed all examinations, including practicals scheduled for the day.

In Alappuzha

Staff Reporter writes from Alappuzha:

The motor strike turned into a virtual hartal in Alappuzha. A majority of shops in the district headquarters and other prominent towns in the district remained shut till 6 p.m., causing inconvenience not just to the general public but to several foreign tourists who had arrived in the coastal tourist spot. Sporadic incidents of violence were reported from the district headquarters when protestors forcibly shut shops that attempted to function. At Valanjavazhi near Ambalapuzha, a tourist bus carrying engineering students from the Coimbatore Maharajas Engineering College to Thiruvananthapuram was attacked by protestors around 11 a.m.. The agitators pelted the bus, which had 26 students, with stones, damaging the windshield and windows of the bus. The students, according to the police, escaped unhurt.

With shops remaining shut, tourists found it difficult to find even a bottle of water and some were seen hiking two-wheeler rides from the railway station and the KSRTC Bus depot. The State Water Transport Department, however functioned without hindrance, though passengers were very few.

The shops remained closed since the Left-leaning Vyapari Vyavasayi Samithi was protesting the land acquisition for the expansion of the National Highway-47. The situation is likely to be the same on Wednesday, when the Highway Action Forum has called for a hartal for shops on either sides of the highway.

In Idukki

A Correspondent writes from Kattappana:

The motor strike assumed hartal proportions in Idukki district with shops and business establishments and educational institutions remaining closed on Tuesday. Autorickshaws, taxis and KSRTC buses kept off the roads. The strike was also supported by the traders’ organisations.

Except a few, most of the private vehicles also kept off the roads and attendance at the government offices was thin. The attendance at the district collectorate in Painavu was also poor.

In Thodupuzha, all the shops including hotels remained closed and private vehicles nominally plied on the roads in the afternoon.

In Kattappana, though some political organisations had announced exception owing to the temple festival at Sree Dharma Sastha temple, most of the shops remained closed and no bus service was conducted.

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