Trade union Nationwide strike Hits Normal life in Coastal Region

Pics by Bernard D’Costa
Bellevision Media Network

Udupi,21 Feb 2013: Normal life in coastal region was affected on Wednesday, the first day of a two-day nationwide strike called by 11 trade unions in protest against the UPA government’s policies. There was no untoward incident reported from any part of the district with police deploying heavy bandobast.

 

The disruption was severe on Day 1 as private bus employees joined the strike, effectively shutting down the life line of the city and mofussil areas. With a section of auto rickshaw drivers joining the strike, the commuters, especially those who arrived from far off places by train and bus were put to hardship in the absence of city buses.

In anticipation of movement within the city being hampered, schools sent SMS messages to parents not to send their wards to school in case of difficulty and the school had not declared a holiday. Some schools which had examinations on Wednesday and Thursday postponed it to Monday.

 

Professional colleges, which had private transport functioned normally, but attendance in pre-university and degree colleges was thin. Government offices saw near to full attendance as only those employees who depended on buses did not attend duty.
Letters were piled up at the Railway Mail Services counter at Mangalore Central Railway station as postal staff was not available for clearing the lot.

Private vehicles plied on the roads with gay abandon in the absence of the Wednesday’s peak traffic. Being the last auspicious day for weddings of this season, there were many weddings in the city but they saw thin attendance.

Luckily for people from outside, the food courts at the railway station and some petty shops at service and city bus stand provided relief to the hungry and passengers waiting for transport.

The strike evoked good response overall. Both private and government buses chose to stay off the roads.