Bengaluru bandh: Are schools closed today? How will it affect essential services?

The Federation of Karnataka State Private Transport Associations in Bengaluru has announced a ‘bandh’ scheduled to start from midnight on Sunday and continue until midnight on Monday. This strike is expected to disrupt transport services, causing inconvenience to many commuters. As a result of this bandh, some schools have already declared a holiday for Monday, according to official sources cited by the news agency PTI. There are a total of 32 private transport associations, and it is anticipated that most private transport services will not be operational on Monday.

The ‘bandh’ will potentially impact lakhs of private vehicles, including autos, taxis, maxi cabs, goods vehicles, and corporate buses. “About 7 to10 lakh vehicles including autos, taxis, airport taxis, maxi cabs, goods vehicles, school vehicles, also stage carriages, contract carriages and corporate buses, will go off the roads tomorrow,” S Nataraj Sharma, president of the federation said.

State government made arrangements

The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), however, is taking steps to alleviate the inconvenience caused by the bandh. On Monday, they will increase the number of bus trips and expand their services within the city and to Kempegowda International Airport.

Transport minister Ramalinga Reddy recently said about the government’s willingness to engage in discussions with the federation. The government is also actively preparing to minimise any disruptions to the public. “We have arranged BMTC (Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation) buses for school going children, office going people and for those who’re going to hospitals. BMTC has arranged around 500 extra buses. Nothing will happen. They (private transport) are going for a strike, let them, they have the right to do so,” news agency ANI quoted Reddy as saying

source :hindustantimes