Bharat Bandh gets a lukewarm response in Mumbai

The call for a Bharat Bandh by Opposition parties got a lukewarm response from the city on Monday. Life largely remained unaffected, barring a few scattered incidents of rail block and damage to buses, taxis, and auto rickshaws. At a number of places, as a precautionary measures, shops had kept their shutters down. This was seen in areas like Girgaon, Worli, Andheri, Kandivli, and Borivali among others.

Rail roko was witnessed in Andheri Station, Bhandup Station, and Ghatkopar Station, which led to minor disruptions on both Central and Western Railway. The protesters also tried barging into a station in Govandi, but were stopped on time by the police.

Traffic was thin at places that see a heavy flow on any normal working day. Few auto rickshaws were damaged in the suburbs of Borivali, Kandivli and Vikhroli, while cabs were damaged in Chembur and Wadala. The damage, however, did not halt the movement of taxis. BEST buses bore the brunt of the protest at some places after the windshield and glasses of over 15 buses were damaged while the tyres of a couple of others were punctured. These, however, did not affect the frequency of buses a lot, including that of school buses, which had gone strike a few days ago.

Anil Garg, chairman of the school bus owners' association, said, "Exams are on and many holidays have already been given owing to the Maratha Morcha and festivities such as the Ganpati festival. Hence we decided to go on as usual."

Metro and Monorail services were disrupted after members of the MNS got on to the tracks, delaying services for a few minutes. At 9.45 am, people holding bearing flags got down on the tracks at DN Nagar metro station. Commuters travelling via Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar line were affected by this. Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL), operator for Metro, however, did not reveal data on the number of services that were disrupted or delayed due to the same. MNS workers also tried entering Bhakti Park Monorail Station at Wadala.

Schools and colleges remained mostly unaffected. "Our college saw regular attendance," said Laisha Manglani, a student of Jai Hind College. An official from St Xavier's High School, Mira Road, said, "Our morning session was on and buses were able to ferry children to school. But for the afternoon session, the school was kept shut as school authorities wanted to keep the kids from harm's way."

• 882 people were detained and released subsequently. 
• 8 cases registered in various police stations.
• 6 persons arrested

WORLI

SMOOTH TRAFFIC FOR A CHANGE

Areas in Worli saw no traffic as roads were mostly clear. A number of shops were shut, particularly those close to Worli Naka. The area has a significant presence of NCP, BJP and Shiv Sena. Despite shops remaining shut, there did not seem to be any chaos or ruckus on the roads, unlike other parts of the city. Buses came frequently and cars and taxis seemed to be plying freely on the streets.

CHURCHGATE

LIFE WENT ON AS USUAL

Life in and around Churchgate remained unaffected. College students who started their day early managed to reach their destinations without much problem. Students  claimed their attendance weren’t affected either. The bandh also did not seem to have deterred share taxis that were queued up outside Churchgate Station. With police vehicle around, they were readily carrying commuters to the Mantralay and Nariman Point.

KANDIVLI, MALAD

STONES PELTED, CHAOS AT STATION

Most of the shops were shut till late evening. Apart from local shop owners, some schools and colleges also declared a holiday In Kandivali area, some people allegedly threw stones at public buses and in Malad, four people of the MNS party were arrested for creating a ruckus at the BJP office. Some people in Dahisar tried to stop local trains but strong deployment of GRP, RPF, and police helped avert a chaos.

DADAR

‘THE DEMISE OF ACHE DIN’

Dadar, a stronghold of the Shiv Sena and MNS saw a mixed response. While Sena didn’t participate in the bandh, MNS cadre were out on the streets to ensure that shops remained shut. “We held two protests in Dadar. We carried a funeral procession of ‘ache din’ and demonstrated black flags to the Chief Minister when he came to visit the Siddhivinayak Temple,” said local MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande.