Hartal Locks Down Trivandrum
Trivandrum goes to sleep as hartal grips the city once again | By Syam Nath
On Jul 05, 2010
| Trivandrum under lockdown. Yet another hartal day- the second one in seven days. And today again, I went roaming around the city, looking for clicks that might come in handy. Here are a few experiences: The last hartal was ignored by most of the media, which led to it dying out without affecting normal life. However, today was different. Most of the city was dead and deserted, thanks to all media giving enough importance to the “event”. However, the “organisers” had announced that this being a “people's hartal”- one for justice and so on- private vehicles, ambulances, etc would not be blocked. A significant number of vehicles were seen on the roads in most places. This is a great change from the hartals five years ago, when the term meant total lockdown.  This led to a very interesting practice. The car owners stuck “hospital” and “to hospital” posters on their windows and went out for drives. I followed two of these vehicles. While one did go to a hospital, the other went inside a government office. The number of these vehicles that I spotted was somewhere around 10. The actual number must be much higher.  Vazhuthacaud was seemingly deserted except for a few bikes here and there. People are still afraid to bring out four wheelers for fear of being attacked.  Most shops remained closed. Yentha staff had to travel a bit to get lunches because none of the shops nearby were open. However, Medical College presented a different scene. Most of the shops and “thattu kadas” remained open. The mini-market at the entrance to the Chalakkudy road was bustling with activity. |
 The police were present in battalions at many key points in the city. I was told that the police had identified ten points in the city which might be venues of trouble. One bus full of police was sent to all these key points.  The hartal also presented an opportunity to the road maintenance crew. Workers were seen using the no-traffic time at the LMS to cut down the branches of the trees, which were trespassing into the road. The portable elevator was kept right in the middle of the road and the branches were strewn all over. It was noticed that this time was also used to repair the roads in many places. Yet another interesting thing about this week's two hartals is that people are not so scared anymore. They are coming out in large numbers unlike yesteryears. Today's hartal was a 12-hour affair. However, just as it was around 5 in the evening, the roads were flooded with vehicles. The Rajasthan Fair at Kanakakunnu, which was totally void at noon, now changed into a sea of shoppers. It seems the people have started getting out of the hartal scare. We are tired of this. We have learnt. |
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