City passes through another day of suffering

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state-wide hartal called by the LDF and BJP in protest against the petrol price hike went peacefully, barring a few untoward incidents. The 12-hour hartal started at 6 a.m. Demonstrations and protest marches were taken out by both the parties in the city and outskirts. Though the city remained peaceful throughout the day, the case was not the same in the outskirts with some untoward incidents being reported. As usual, Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and the people who relied on them were the main sufferers. Four buses were damaged in the stone-pelting by hartal supporters in the capital. The situation was turbulent at the border town of Parassala where three buses were damaged in stone-pelting. Another bus was damaged by the protestors at Mukkola, near Vizhinjam. The KSRTC stopped its services following the attacks. People who alighted at the Central railway station and airport, unaware of the hartal, were the worst-affected, as there were only a few public transport vehicles were available to them to reach their destinations. The City Police and some NGOs had run parallel services to help the stranded travellers. But their services were restricted to the city limits. Long-distance travellers had to wait till the hartal got over to resume their journey. Meanwhile, the hartal also affected the people who set out to withdraw money from ATMS at several places in the city as many banks, including the State Bank of Travancore, kept their ATM counters closed at many locations. Most of the ATM counters installed near bank branches remained closed as hartal supporters barged into the branch offices and stalled work. The branch offices of SBT at Fort, Chalai and Bakery Junction were forcefully shut by the protestors.A Day of Real PolicingWhen the public suffer at the hands of hartal organisers, how can the police stand witness to it? ‘’If they had not arranged a bus, I could not have met my son who is fighting for his life at RCC,” an old lady who arrived the city on a morning train said pointing to a police officer who was busy arranging seats for the people who alighted at the railway station. Police had arranged two buses for transporting people. A mini bus shuttled between the airport and bus station. The other bus carried passengers to the Medical College Hospital and Regional Cancer Centre.