Left unions strike in 3 states, snubbed in others

ALL INDIA STRIKE: Left trade unions have called an all India strike to protest inflation among other demands.

    

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New Delhi: The day-long industrial strike called by Left trade unions on Wednesday brought West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura to a grinding halt but rail, road and air services remained largely unaffected in rest of the country.

With the ruling Left Front governments supporting the strike called to protest against surging inflation and the Centre's "anti-people" economic policies, there was a complete shut down in West Bengal with disruption in air and rail traffic.

Inspector General (Law and Order), Raj Kanojia told PTI in Kolkata that no untoward incident was reported from any part of the state but train services were disrupted with protesters squatting on the rail track at several places.

Additional policemen and Rapid Action Force personnel were deployed in the city to maintain law and order, police said.

Airports Authority of India officials said in New Delhi that going by the number of flights across the country, the schedules were running "almost normally". Besides flights to Kolkata, some others to Mumbai were also affected by the strike, they said.

Airport sources said in Kolkata that more than a hundred passengers who came late night yesterday were stranded. While no flight landed, seven flights, including two international ones--British Airways' flight from here to London and Jet Airways' flight from here to Dhaka--took off early this morning.

About 80 flights were postponed and rail and road traffic were disrupted in West Bengal. "All flights scheduled before the shutdown took off. But the 80-odd flights scheduled within the shutdown tenure have been postponed till tomorrow (Thursday). We have informed passengers earlier so that they don't have to face any harassment," Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport Director V.K. Monga said.

Kolkata's two important railway stations - Howrah and Sealdah - were deserted from early morning.

A senior railway employee said, "All long-distance trains from Howrah station have been cancelled. Three trains - Jagannath Express, Howrah-Mumbai Mail and Guwahati-Bangalore Express - have halted at Kharagpur station."

Suburban train services across the Eastern and South-Eastern railways in the state also came to a halt due to blockades at different stations while the metro railway operated irregularly with the agitators picketing outside the metro stations.

The state's industrial hubs at Howrah, Bankura, Malda, Murshidabad and Bardhaman districts as well as the tea gardens in its northern districts remained closed.

Even the Information Technology (IT) sector at Salt Lake in north-eastern Kolkata was affected.

There were few private vehicles on the roads here. Buses, whether run by the government or private firms, stopped plying.

Communist supporters of the shutdown reportedly stopped private vehicles at some places in the city and dragged passengers out of taxis.

Markets and business establishments also remained closed. Schools and colleges had been given an unofficial holiday across the state.

Road traffic was affected in Left ruled Kerala and Tripura with most vehicles keeping off the roads. Train services were seriously affected with strike supporters blocking trains at various places.