Shops, markets, business establishments, banks and post offices were closed and vehicles stayed off the roads as the bandh resumed from 6 pm on Monday after a five-day break.

Inspector General of Police (North Bengal) K L Tamta said the situation remained peaceful.

All state and Central Government offices also remained closed. The heritage Toy Train, a major tourist attraction, did not run.

The National Highway 31A, linking Sikkim’s capital Gangtok with Siliguri and passing through Kalimpong sub-division, was blocked by GJM activists, virtually cutting off the Himalayan state from the rest of the country, officials said.

The Sikkim Government was in constant touch with their counterparts in West Bengal and the Centre to ensure that NH 31A is spared from the indefinite bandh due to its impact on the economy of the Himalayan state.

Work, however, carried on in tea gardens, schools and colleges. In Kolkata, regarding the disruption of work in tea gardens, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said he has already got in touch with tea planters’ associations.

“The situation at the tea gardens is grim and tea industry is suffering losses. We have discussed with tea planters on how to get out of this situation,” he said.

In New Delhi, senior Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhyay too, said the indefinite strike will adversely affect tea exports and badly hit tea workers.

Bandopadhyay raised the issue with Congress President Sonia Gandhi, whom he met today.

Bandopadhyay also said he would raise the issue with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday, ahead of the latter’s meeting with the Left leaders at the UPA-Left Committee meeting on the Indo-US nuclear deal.