No major untoward incident was reported from anywhere, even as 38 people were arrested in Kolkataand 1,200 in Howrah district for breaching peace.

At the Writers’ Buildings

The only minister who turned up at head office of the state administration was Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharje, known for his aversion to bandhs and strikes. Out of about 6,000 employees only about a 100, mostly securitymen, turned up for duty.

Rail and Metro services

There was no disruption in railway or Metro services, as was promised by CITU.

“Some trains, especially the long distance ones, were late in the morning. But, all trains, including the local ones, were running today, though footfall was just 25 to 35 per cent of the usual,” said Partha Sarathi Mondal, Divisional Railway Manager, Howrah.

Passengers travelling to or from the Howrah and Sealdah station were, however, the worst hit, with vehicles keeping off the roads. Newly married Azmal and Babli Khan, who were leaving for Rae Baraeli from Khiderpore were among them. “We left home at 10.30 am as our train (Upasana Express) was scheduled to leave at 12.50. but now it has been rescheduled and will leave at 3.05 pm,” said Azmal at Howrah station on the eve of the departure of the train..

The couple also had to pay Rs 250 instead of the usual Rs 70 for a taxi till Howrah. The few taxis that were out on the streets had a field day with the hassled commuters ready to pay any price for a ride.

Flight services at Kolkata Airport

The flight operations to and from Kolkata were crippled as private airlines including Kingfisher, Indigo, Jet Airways, Spicejet cancelled nearly 80 flights. Passengers were stranded at the airport as they faced difficulty in getting vehicles, sources said. The Air India, meanwhile, today took over the responsibility of carrying huge number of passengers from the Kolkata airport, who got stranded due to flight cancellations of other airlines. The airline operated 22 flights from the airport to help the passengers.

low turnout at bengal’s IT Hub

The IT sector at Salt Lake saw a tremendous low attendance today. “Since no conveyance was available, only 20 to 25 per cent of the employees turned up. Others have been given a leave, and they will have to work on an off day to make up for today,” said an employee of the Tata Consultancy Services. The situation at Cognizant Technology Service, Wipro, Aegis, Webel and other IT firms was almost identical.

In Nandigram, bandh gives Trinamool, CPM a reason to clash

The bandh called by the trade unions sparked clashes between CPM and Trinamool Congress in and around Nandigram area of East Midnapore district on Tuesday with a group of Trinamool members allegedly ransacking three party offices of the CPM. The zonal office of CPM at Reyapara near Nandigram was ransacked allegedly by Trinamool cadres as the Marxists were taking out a rally to enforce bandh. CPM offices at Nachinda, Marishda and Silpibari areas were also ransacked allegedly by Trinamool members.

There were reports of clashes between the rival political groups in the areas. However, no major casualty was reported.

At Somberia, Trinamool supporters clashed with police when the latter tried to resist them from entering Soniachar near Nandigram. The police had imposed Section 144 in the area in the wake of Trinamool MP Suvendu Adhikary’s plan to march to Nandigram on Tuesday.

“When Trinamool supporters started marching towards Soniachar from Somberia, the police requested them not to proceed further. But they did not pay heed to our requests and started agitating. The situation is under control now,” said Ashok Biswas, SP of East Midnapore.

Adhikary, however, alleged that the police stopped them from entering Soniachar to provide a safe shelter to the armed cadres of the CPM. “We will hold a grand rally in Soniachar September 16,” he added.

Trinamool resists bandh

* Trinamool Congress supporters tried to resist the bandh at a few places and organised small rallies and processions. Trinamool leaders Subrata Bakshi, Madan Mitra and Debashish Kumar addressed rallies condemning the frequent strikes called by the ruling party. The party alleged that the strike was forced on the people through "government backing and CPM muscle power." "This is a politically motivated bandh forced on the people only to harass the working class and daily wage earners," said Leader of the Opposition in Assembly Partha Chatterjee.

Cong critical of bandh during Ramzan

* Criticising the industrial strike, state Congress president Manas Bhuniya said that the bandh should not have been called in the Ramzan month. The CPM and the Left parties imposed the bandh on the people forcibly in the name of industrial strike, he said. As it is festive time and holy month for the minority community, the Left leaders should have avoided the bandh. The industrial strike should be confined in the industrial areas, Bhuniya added. The Congress did not oppose the bandh directly to avoid any confrontation, he added.

It’s CPM’s divide and rule policy: S S Ray