Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Delhi Traders’ strike turned violent again

It appears to be a repetition of last strike. The strike had turned violent on its final day. My office was located close to one of the most affected area – Laxmi Nagar. When we came we avoided the Vikas Marg and it appeared to be normal. But soon we started receiving worried calls from home after seeing the visuals of mob rampage in TV. Many colleagues living in areas like Mayur Vihar and Noida could not make it to office today as all approach to the Vikas Marg was blocked. Buses stopped plying after some buses were damaged and set on fire by the irate mob. Police had to resort to lathi charge and RAF was deployed.

Schools have also called up the parents to take back the children as buses would not be plying. It was practical chaos during noon time. As vehicles tried to reach NH-24 in order to avoid the Vikas Marg, they created jams in residential areas like ours. The relative calm of last two days had made most school open today. But it turned out to be wrong decision.

Looking from the top of my office building during lunch hours, which is slightly off the main Vikas Marg, we could see a burning dustbin. These hooligans (so called traders) appeared to have gone on mindless rampage. Smoke was seen bellowing from other areas as well. We did not go down to check. Such wanton damage of public properties should be severely punished. From tomorrow garbage will be dumped on the roads where they existed.

The update as of 05:30 pm is that buses are still not plying on the Vikas Marg. This probably has thrown the system out of gear. How will people return home? Small vehicles are however seen plying. People who had come from places like Noida and Mayur Vihar are worried as to which route they take for going back.
(Advisory: A tourist should avoid Delhi for the time being. Markets will mostly remain closed with erruption of unexpected violence from time to time. Traffic jams can hold you up for hours. It is certainly not the time to visit Delhi.)

No comments: