TN bandh total, normal life affected

 

CHENNAI: Life was thrown out of gear and public transport came to a standstill in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry due to a 12-hour bandh called by the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance to protest against the Supreme Court's stay on the quota for OBCs in elite educational institutions.
    
The movement of trains came to a grinding halt during the bandh as Southern Railways either cancelled or rescheduled trains arriving and departing from Tamil Nadu, and buses, taxis and autorickshaws too stayed off the roads.

 

The dawn-to-dusk bandh was total and incident-free, official sources here said.

 

The Tamil Nadu government declared a holiday on Saturday under the Negotiable Instruments Act. Essential services like power, water and milk supply, telecommunications, hospitals, banks and media were exempted from the purview of the bandh.

 

Indian cancelled all its flights to and from Chennai during the bandh. However, private carriers operated a few flights.

 

Liquor shops, godowns storing explosives and cinema halls remained closed across Tamil Nadu. Life in the state limped back to normal as train and bus services resumed at 6 pm.

 

The bandh reflected the acrimonious relations between the ruling DMK and the Opposition AIADMK. While AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa said no useful purpose would be served by the bandh and described it as "eyewash", DMK chief and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi said the protest symbolised the "teardrops of the oppressed classes" who had been deprived of their right to reservations.