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Bandh affects Orissa and Assam,
Bihar normal

The countrywide bandh (general strike) call given by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Shiv Sena on Thursday in protest against the terrorist attack on Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar in Gujarat disrupted rail and bus services in Orissa and affected normal life in Assam, while evoking marginal response in Bihar.

In Orissa's capital Bhubaneswar, most of the four-wheelers stayed off the roads although some long-route trucks were plying. Shops and markets remained shut in most localities and government, private offices witnessed thin attendance, state Inspector General of police Harihar Panda told rediff.com

The bandh also disrupted normal life in all major cities of the state, but essential services including hospitals, post and telephone offices were functioning normally, he said.

No untoward incidents were reported from any part of the state, Panda said, though VHP activists had organised roadblocks in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

In Guwahati, Assam's capital, most of the banks, educational institutions, markets, schools and private establishments remained closed, Inspector General of police Khagen Sarma said.

Sarma added that life in other parts of the state were also affected.

Attendance in government offices was thin, he said with only government-run vehicles plying in the city. Train and air services, by and large, functioned normally.

But picketers stopped trains in the Silchar-Badarpur-Kumarghat section of the Northern Frontier Railway, Chief Public Relation Officer Leena Sarma said.

She said picketing was also held in several places including Silchar, Badarpur, Karimganj, Dharmapur, Lalabazaar, and Ziribam.

Security forces were put on alert throughout the state, particularly in the famous Kamakhya, Balaji and ISKCON temples.

No untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the state.

But Bihar largely remained unaffected by the bandh. Roads in Patna, the state's capital, were crowded and most of the business establishments remained open. Banks and other government offices witnessed normal attendance.

Most of the private schools remained closed, except the Delhi Public School. Government-run schools, however, remained open.

Inputs from PTI

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