Andhra-Seema shutdown ‘total’

Hyderabad, Jan 4: With the shutdown in Andhra And Rasyalaseema regions commencing peacefully on Monday, traffic has come to a standstill in the major throughfares of Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati. However, a few skeletal services for the pilgrims are in operation at Tirupati.Life looks totally paralysed in the non-Telangana regions of the state due to the 24-hour bandh called by the all-party Joint Action Committee (JAC) in support of United Andhra Pradesh as the state-owned Road Transport Corporation in Hyderabad suspended its 300 long-distance services to Andhra and Rayalaseema regions.

"We called for a complete bandh to send a message to the Centre that a majority of people want a United Andhra Pradesh," Convenor of Samaikhya Andhra (United Andhra Pradesh) JAC, Prof Samuel told reporters in Vijayawada.Schools, colleges, shops and other business establishments remained closed.The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation suspended its services across Telangana and Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions as a precautionary measure. Since the RTC has suffered an estimated loss of Rs 135-crore due to the violence in the recent bandhs in the state, the Corporation does not intend to take any further risks.

In Chittoor district, except buses going to the temple town of Tirupati, all other services remained suspended. In Vijayawada, former Mayor Mallika Begum and a few other leaders were taken into custody by the police as they tried to hold a protest. In Guntur and Tenali 46 activists belonging to the JAC were taken into preventive custody.The Telangana-NGOs as per an earlier decision were also observing a pen-down strike in the day in the Telangana districts. The Osmania University students here were also enthused after the Sunday’s `Vidyarthi Garjana’ and have decided to keep the heat of the agitation going until the Centre meets the all-party leaders in New Delhi on Tuesday (Jan 5).