The Opposition-sponsored bandh brought normal life to a standstill in Vellore. Almost all shops were closed in the Fort City, with people staying off roads on Thursday.
According to the police, six government buses were damaged in stone pelting incidents. More than 2,000 people affiliated to political parties including the DMK, the Congress and the VCK were arrested for staging road roko and rail roko.
A total of 1,700 police personnel were engaged to ensure security across the district, said P. Pakalavan, Superintendent of Police, Vellore.
The DMK party cadre, led by senior leader Durai Murugan, staged a protest in the city. Shops along Anna Salai, Nethaji Market, Long Bazaar, RTO Road and Arcot Road were closed. Traders said that nearly 90% shops across the district remained closed in response to the bandh against the Centre for not constituting the Cauvery Management Board.
Public transport was also affected with a number of commuters pointing to minimal bus services from noon. CITU’s district general secretary S. Parasuraman said that 80% buses were operated in the morning, while the number of services were fewer in the afternoon. “At least 20% transport staff attached to CITU and LPF did not turn up for work today,” he said.
“Our college convocation was conducted today. I managed to reach the college by 10 a.m. from Arni in a bus. But even then, many buses were stopped mid-way. We were a little scared but managed to reach. But we had to wait at the bus stop for a long time after the convocation, and there were no buses,” said a student of a city college.
The number of share autos plying in the city was also less. As hotels remained closed since morning, people relied on a few roadside eateries and ‘Amma’ canteen on Anna Salai.
As a sign of extending solidarity to the Cauvery issue, majority of the tanneries and shoe factories across the district including in Ambur and Vaniyambadi were closed.
Lone woman protester
As a few hundreds of DMK partymen assembled on the service lane of the National Highway 48 in Ambur town to stage a protest, a 54-year-old woman, Devanayagi, who is the deputy organiser of the party’s women’s wing in Ambur, walked on the NH with a party flag in hand and stopped a government bus.
The video of her stopping the bus circulated on WhatsApp and aired on television caught the attention of the DMK’s leadership too.
M. R. Arumugam, the party’s Ambur town secretary, said, “Thalapathy’s (M.K.Stalin) personal assistant called me and said our leader wanted to meet her. He has asked me to bring her to Chennai.”
