An indefinite agitation launched by the plantation workers under the banner of a joint action council in Wayanad took a new turn on Thursday.
The workers have been staging a road blockade for two hours from 9 a.m. at Chundale Junction for the past five days. But, provoked by the failure of the fourth round of talks held in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, the workers, especially women, refused to stop the stir at 11 a.m., ignoring the advice of union leaders. They wanted the stir to continue till the government meets their demands.
However, they stopped the stir at 2 p.m. after cooking food on the highway.
Traffic on the Kozhikode-Mysuru National Highway 212 and Kozhikode-Ooty inter-State highway was disrupted for nearly five hours due to the blockade.
Meanwhile, a protest march taken out by a group of stranded passengers created a tense situation at Chundale for some time.
Later, the leaders of the CITU announced indefinite road blockades at Thamarassery and Periya on the NH and Kannur-Mananthavady State Highway on Saturday. The joint action council also announced an indefinite hunger strike from Friday.
Similar agitations were also staged at Arepetta, Rippon and Mepadi on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu inter- State highway.
