Puducherry witnessed widespread disruption on September 18, Wednesday as a 12-hour bandh called by the INDIA bloc parties brought life to a standstill.
The protest was organized to demand a rollback of the recent electricity tariff hike, the scrapping of the pre-paid meters scheme, and the cessation of moves to privatize power transmission and distribution in the union territory.
The bandh, which began at 6 am significantly affected transportation, with private buses staying off the roads.
As private buses make up the majority of Puducherry's public transportation, commuters, especially daily passengers, faced severe hardship.
Business and trade also came to a grinding halt, with shops and commercial establishments in key areas like Nehru Road, Gandhi Road, and Annasalai, Lal Bahadur Shastri Street, Kamaraj Salai among others remaining closed. The impact extended to suburban and rural areas.
Major markets were shut down, and industrial estates in the region were non-operational.
The Puducherry government had offered a subsidy to offset the hike for the first 200 units of electricity, but opposition parties have insisted on a complete rollback of the hike, prompting the bandh.