Telangana Shutdown Paralyzes Life

Already paralysed, life in the Telangana region went into a coma on Saturday, with almost all services coming to a grinding halt.

Following a 2-day 'Rail Roko' call given by pro-Telangana organisations, the South Central Railway halted all its operations in the region. The SCR cancelled 55 express trains, diverted 55, partially cancelled 48, re-scheduled 48 and regulated two other trains originating from, coming to or passing through the Telangana region.

In addition, as many as 102 pairs of passenger trains have been fully or partially cancelled, and 222 MMTS services and 102 DHMU trains in the twin cities were cancelled.

All railway stations wore a deserted look, and passengers were seen only at the counters, collecting their refunds for cancelled tickets.

The leaders of Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Bharatiya Janata Party, Communist Party Of India and other groups protested on the tracks across the Telangana region on Saturday, demanding statehood for the region.

Considered the city's lifeline, over 50,000 auto-rickshaws, too, went off the roads for 48-hours from Saturday. Although auto-rickshaw unions were originally going to protest demanding an increase in fares due to the petrol price hoke, they joined the T-chorus and linked their strike to the Sakala Janula Samme.

However, some auto-rickshaw drivers who plied on Saturday made a killing by charging exorbitant amounts from passengers.

Over 10,000 public transport buses remained off the road for the 6th consecutive day, due to RTC employees from the Telangana taking part in the general strike.

The management tried in vain on Saturday to convince the employees' unions to call off the strike, at least partially.

Road blockades, too, continued at several places. Buses coming from the Seemandhra region or other states were denied entry by Telangana activists. According to a report, 4 Hyderabad-bound Volvo buses coming from Guntur were damaged by some unknown Telangana activists near Maal of Chintapalli mandal in Nalgonda district.

Following a bandh call given by the Osmania University Students' Joint Action Committee, petrol bunks in the twin cities remained shut as well.

While some private schools located in residential areas functioned and conducted the quarterly examinations, a majority of schools remained closed. Almost all government and private educational institutions also remained closed.

Meanwhile, the state government has intensified security across the region. In view of clashes between the Telugu Desam Party and TRS workers on Friday, the state police has also begun the process of identifying 'politically sensitive' locations on the lines of 'communally sensitive' places.

While a large number of security personnel was deployed near railway stations, elaborate security arrangements were also made at the residences and offices of leaders of the Congress and the TDP.

Commercial establishments, shopping malls and cinema theatres in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad witnessed low footfalls on Saturday. (INN)