The DMK and the Opposition supported State-wide bandh to condemn the Centre’s failure to constitute Cauvery Management Board (CMB) within the time frame set by the Supreme Court partially affected normalcy in Coimbatore on Thursday. While shops and establishments remained closed, vehicles including majority of TNSTC, private and educational institution buses plied as usual.
Schools and colleges also functioned though there was a drop in attendance. Examinations at several educational institutions were not affected.
According to police, more than 4,600 persons were arrested and removed by the police for staging rail blockade, road blockade, picketing of Central Government institutions and demonstrations at 70 locations in the district.
While Coimbatore city police arrested and removed 2,595 persons, including 249 women, for protests at 35 locations in the city, Coimbatore district (rural) police arrested 2,101 persons, including 119 women, for staging agitations at 35 places.
Protesters led by DMK MLA N. Karthik, former DMK minister Pongalur Palanisami and urban district president of Congress Mayura S. Jayakumar were removed as they staged a rail blockade at Coimbatore Junction and Coimbatore North station.
While members of all trade unions picketed the BSNL office on State Bank Road, youth wing of DMK staged a protest by serving porridge in front of the Regional Passport Office here. In Coimbatore rural, protesters were removed for staging rail blockade at three places and road blockade at 24 places. At Pollachi, some persons locked the door of State Bank of India branch near the town bus stand, but it was later removed by the police.
Two TNSTC buses and a bus belonging to a private company at Saravanampatti were damaged in stone-throwing.
The TNSTC operated buses on all the routes from Coimbatore including long distance services. Meanwhile, services of State Transport Corporation buses of Kerala and Karnataka were suspended in Coimbatore. A section of lawyers boycotted court and staged hunger strike on Arts College Road.
Hotels, shops closed
Hotels, retail outlets, vegetable markets and cottage industries in Coimbatore remained closed for most part of the day in support of the demand for the CMB.
Over 90 % of the micro units did not operate on Thursday and the workers, numbering nearly two lakh, were informed in advance. Jewellers in the city decided to down shutters. Hotels across the district were not open till late in the afternoon. Some opened after 3 p.m.. At Thyagi Kumaran vegetable market, most of the shops were closed and at the wholesale vegetable market on Mettupalayam Road, there was hardly any movement of vegetables.
However, textile units and small and medium-scale enterprises functioned. “Our suppliers such as hardware shops and tool suppliers remained closed,” said one of the small-scale industry owners.
2,500 people arrested in Tirupur
A total of nearly 2,500 people were removed by police for staging rail and road blockade agitations at various parts of Tirupur district. A couple of vehicles were damaged in stone-throwing. Police identified seven persons involved in the act.
Nearly 75 % of the shops in the district and 70 % of the industrial units in Tirupur knitwear cluster remained closed. The TNSTC operated services as usual.
Tourists affected in the Nilgiris
The bandh had a huge impact on tourists visiting the Nilgiris, with almost 80 % of shops and restaurants being closed.
The closure of restaurants posed problems for tourists, many of whom were left stranded for the second time in less than a week without food.
The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation stopped its vehicles at the Kakkanallah checkpost and allowed passengers to board TNSTC buses to reach their destinations. TNSTC buses were also stopped at the checkpost and prevented from entering Karnataka as a precautionary measure. Across the Nilgiris, protests and road rokos were staged at 30 places, and around 1,200 people were removed by police. One TNSTC bus was damaged in stone pelting near Ithalar in Udhagamandalam.
