Shutdown hits commuters in Himachal

Shimla, Sep 2: The shutdown called by the trade unions against the central government's economic measures on Wednesday hit the commuters most as over 2,000 state roadways buses went off road.

However, the state government offices and educational institutions were functioning normally and there was no report of violence anywhere in the state.

The impact of the shutdown was more in major towns like Shimla, Rampur, Theog, Solan, Mandi, Nahan, Una, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Dharamsala, Palampur, Kangra, Kullu and Manali as private bus operators also joined the protest.

An official of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation said more than 250 inter-state routes were badly hit due to the strike.

"The supply of milk to the state from the neighbouring state Punjab was also hit due to the shutdown," a police official said.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) also joined the strike in protest against indifferent attitude of the state government towards the problems of the fruit growers.

IANS