CPI(M)-enforced strike coincides with bandh

Passenger traffic for the train services, including that of South-Eastern Railway, Eastern Railway and the Kolkata Metro witnessed a slump today because of the government employee strike enforced by the CPM backed coordination committee and a bandh called by the SUCI to protest against the breakdown of the public distribution system and the police abuses related to the mysterious death of a young IT professional and teacher, Rizwanur Rehman.

Opposition party Trinamul Congress had called a 12-hour bandh on October 31, which the Left party and supporting groups were ironically opposing.

Work in government offices in West Bengal was paralysed by pro-Left unions, as state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta came out in support of the striking government employees.

The state secretariat Writers' Buildings was deserted and most departments and secretaries' chambers remained closed and all entrances, except the central gate, locked. The secretariat recorded less than two per cent attendance, Home secretary Prasad Ranjan Roy said.

Dasgupta came to his office and said he supported striking employees but he had come to office for "personal reasons".

The home secretary evaded a question whether salaries of striking employees would be deducted.

The strike was enforced jointly by Confederation of Central Government Employees and workers, All India State Government Employees Federation, State Government Teachers Organisation and All India Federation of College Teachers Associations, based on a 12-point demand.

On the streets, life remained by and large unaffected but roads were deserted except at schools which remained by and large open.

Police arrested 250 bandh supporters. Flights operated normally from the NSC Bose International airport. Public transport was available and businesses and banks remained open.

Some shops and markets were shut as also the wholesale market at Burrabazar but the wholesale vegetables market at Sealdah was open. South-Eastern Railway, which sells about 3 lakh tickets on a given day, recorded around 20 per cent decline in its passenger traffic, a spokesperson said.

Eastern Railway also experienced passenger load much below normal. The drop in passenger traffic was more pronounced in case of Kolkata Metro.

As compared to other normal days, the Metro Rail had 50 per cent less commuters in the first twelve hours of the day, a spokesperson of the Kolkata Metro said.

However, barring a few sporadic blockades of 15-30 minutes, the bandh did not impact train services, which continued as usual. Rail vans tackled problems on the Sealdah-Canning, Kanchrapara-Kalyanior Sealdah main line sections as also at Mankundu station on Seoraphuli-Bandel section under the Howrah division.

At Kallnarayanpur on Ranaghat-Krishnanagar section under Eastern Railway's Sealdah division, passenger intervention foiled the attempts of the bandh supporters to obstruct track.

For the trains under the South-Eastern Railway, the train services were partly disrupted at Goraghata between Howrah and Kharagpur stations and at Kulgachia by protestors on the track.