Bharat Bandh evokes mixed response in State
The Hindu
Transport services and commercial establishments functioned as usual
The Bharat Bandh organised by Congress and Left parties in the State, protesting against the farm laws of the Centre, on Monday evoked mixed response in the State.
The bus fleet of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation, cab services, auto-rickshaw and other transport services were plying on the road as usual in the State capital, but the buses were obstructed in districts.
A scuffle ensued between the police and the agitationists when they tried to stop buses coming out of Hanamkonda depot. Over 800 buses were off roads in the erstwhile Mahabubnagar district. Telangana Congress Committee president A. Revanth Reddy and his followers were arrested near Uppal bus depot in Hyderabad while the president of Telangana Jana Samiti M. Kodandaram’s clothes were torn in another protest at Hayathnagar. The police banged at the window panes of Mr. Kodandaram’s car, pulled him out and physically moved him into their own vehicle and shifted him to Meerpet police station.
Everyone talks about the Airport Metro, but one look at the pillars and completion seems nowhere in sight. Meanwhile, a faster, cheaper, roomier alternative called the Suburban Rail Airport Corridor is finally getting off the drawing board. This dedicated corridor with its specialised coaches will link the airport to vast stretches of Bengaluru, where the metro connection is still years away.