New Delhi: Chaos and anarchy that prevailed in battleground Nandigram spilled over to the rest of West Bengal on Monday as the state-wide bandh crippled normal life and brought the state to a grinding halt.
The worst-hit from the chaos were air and rail passengers who were stranded at the Kolkata Airport and railway station due to non-availability of transport.
Flights from Kolkata were also taking off with a 30-60-minutes delay to make it easy for the passengers running late.
All long-distance trains were stopped at Seeldah and Howrah railway station and at WB borders.
Kolkata witnessed one of the most spontaneous bandhs in the recent times because the killings in Nandigram have struck a chord with people from all walks of life.
Isolated incidents of violence were also reported from across the state and two buses were torched on Monday morning. While one was set on fire at Durgapur in Burdwan district and another at Maulali in central Kolkata.
The bandh generated mixed response in north West Bengal. News agencies report the following:
- All three sub-divisions of Darjeeling district remained unaffected and tea gardens were open, life in Siliguri sub-division and five other districts - Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri, North and South Dinajpur and Malda - affected badly.
- A report from Mathabhanga in Coochbehar said a clash between the CPI(M) and Trinamool Congress supporters left two AITC cadres injured.
- Train services on Northeast Frontier (NF) Railway connecting Assam, other Northeastern states and Bihar were disrupted as bandh supporters blocked the tracks on many sections, NF Railway sources said.
- Vehicular traffic on most of the highways connecting Sikkim, Bihar, Orissa, Assam and other Northeastern states were off the roads.
- Workers of tea gardens in the hills of Darjeeling reported to their works, while their counterparts in Jalpaiguri struck work for the day responding to the bandh.
Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee has demanded immediate deployment of CRPF in Nandigram. She has spoken to the PMO and Home Ministry regarding the matter.
Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi met former CM Jyoti Basu just a short while ago. Activist Medha Patkar is also on her way to Nandigram.
Meanwhile CPI-M’s rally near Nandigram police station has turned violent and reports of cadres setting houses on fire and looting to scare away BUPC activists are also coming in.
(With agencies inputs)
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