KOCHI: That day has dawned again when the entire city is shut down by a hartal call. Has anyone thought about the innocent victims of hartal? For eg, what will a differently-abled man landing at the railway station after a three-day two-night tiring travel do on a hartal day? Or who will help a grandma who fell ill and need hospitalisation immediately? As part of our ‘Say No To Hartal’ campaign, ‘expresso’ is operating a dawn-to-dusk emergency helpline today to assist hartal victims. Ring us @ 0484-2401625 or 9447221385 or 9447425100 for any emergency from 6 am to 6 pm. You can also reach us by e-mail at saynotohartal@gmail.com. It may be a request for transport to the airport from somebody for whom missing a flight may cost a job or a call for transportation assistance to a hospital.
‘expresso’, in association with the Travel Operators Association of Kerala (TOAK), has made arrangements to help hartal victims in the city. We will get you a taxi at the normal rate for your emergency travel. In addition, we will be alerting the city police for assistance if your need is very urgent and serious. “We will be only happy in assisting hartal victims who contact the ‘expresso’ helpline,’’ said City Police Commissioner Manoj Abraham.
The public can directly get in touch with 100 or 2366100 and the city police will arrange vehicles for the people. “We will be organising a car rally from Maharaja’s College Ground at 10 am on Monday as part of our ‘Say No to Hartal Campaign’. Justice V R Krishna Iyer will flag off the rally. We have already received five to six calls in Kochi seeking our assistance on Monday. We will be extending our full support to the ‘expresso’ campaign,’’ said TOAK secretary Raju P Nair.
kochi@expressbuzz.com