48-hour Telangana shutdown may hit normal life

Hyderabad, July 4 : Normal life in Hyderabad and nine other districts of Telangana is likely to come to a standstill Tuesday and Wednesday even as the government is gearing up to tackle 48-hour shutdown called by the Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) in a bid to intensify its agitation for a separate state.Buses may go off the roads as state-owned Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) is likely to suspend all its services across the region as a precautionary measure. APSRTC officials have already announced that bus services between Vijayawada and the Telangana region would be suspended from Monday midnight.The South Central Railway (SCR) has announced suspension of Multi Modal Transit System (MMTS) or local trains in Hyderabad. Autorickshaw drivers have also decided not operate three-wheelers in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad in support of the demand for a separate state.Long queues were seen at petrol bunks as people resorted to panic buying. At many petrol bunks, "no stock" boards were displayed.All universities, colleges and schools in the region are also likely to remain closed as students have been actively participating in the separate Telangana movement.Hyderabad Commissioner of Police A. K. Khan has imposed orders banning gathering of people on roads, meetings and rallies. Prohibitory orders would be strictly in force around the assembly complex, the state secretariat, Raj Bhavan and other vital installations.Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy reviewed the situation with his deputy Damodar Raja Narasimha, some cabinet colleagues and senior police officials. He directed the officials to take all necessary steps to ensure that general public is not put to hardships.The JAC, which is spearheading the movement for separate Telangana state, has called for a series of protests starting with the shutdown to demand that the central government table a bill on the issue in the monsoon session of parliament.The JAC, which comprises the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other political and non-political groups, has also called for a rail blockade July 8 and 9.TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao appealed to people to make the 48-hour shutdown a total success. He also urged central and state government employees, teachers, lawyers and workers of state-owned Singareni Collieries to participate in the strike.JAC convenor M. Kodandaram appealed to the Congress, the Telugu Desam Party and all mass organisations to make the shutdown a huge success.Unions representing employees of APSRTC and the electricity board, who are part of the JAC, have announced their participation in the shutdown.KCR,  as Rao is popularly known, said the protest would continue till the central government honours its commitment made on Dec 9, 2009, to carve out a separate Telangana state,Appealing to all sections of people to participate in the protest, KCR said the rail blockade would snap the rail link between south and north India.Telangana students will take out rallies July 6 and 7 in villages, towns and district headquarters while cook-and-eat protests, whereby people from all walks of life will set up kitchens on roads, cook food and eat there, will be held across the region on July 10.
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