Stray violence hits Mumbai amid Maratha shutdown
Mumbai, July 25 : The second phase of the Maharashtra shutdown call by Maratha groups seeking quotas, evoked mixed response in Mumbai and coastal districts of the state, punctuated with incidents of stray violence, here on Wednesday.
Since morning large groups of Maratha activists armed with saffron flags and banners, took to the streets with noisy processions amidst tight police security in Mumbai and other districts like Palghar, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg.
Roads were blocked in several parts of Mumbai. There was an attempt to block the suburban railway system in Thane. Stones were pelted at city transport buses in Navi Mumbai, and private vehicular traffic was also stopped by the protestors.
Most shops and commercial establishments remained shut in important pockets like Dadar, Andheri, Mulund, Kanjurmarg, Borivali, Kandivali, and in many other places as Maratha activists went around requesting shopkeepers to down shutters and express solidarity with their cause.
A large group of protestors blocked certain pockets on the Eastern Express Highway and Western Express Highway, disrupting normal traffic movement, as well as arterial roads in the suburbs, stopping all vehicles from plying to and from on the highways.
Some protestors blocked the railway tracks at Jogeshwari but were evicted by the security forces and normal services resumed in 10 minutes, said a Western Railway spokesperson.
However, schools and colleges functioned normally, though there were reports of drop in attendance. Mumbai's lifeline the suburban trains and long-distance services were largely unaffected and other essential services functioned smoothly.
Today was the second phase of the state-wide shutdown call by the Maratha Kranti Morcha. The first phase was held spontaneously on Tuesday in most districts of northern, western and Marathwada regions of Maharashtra.
The Marathas are seeking suitable reservations in government jobs and education and the agitation conducted peacefully for the past over two years turned violent on Tuesday after a Maratha youth committed suicide in Aurangabad on Monday.
The shutdown organisers, the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena government and the police have appealed to all groups to maintain peace during the agitation.
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Bridge portion collapses on Jammu outskirts; 3-4 labourers feared trapped, 1 rescued
Jammu (PTI): A portion of a small bridge collapsed in the Bantalab area on the outskirts of Jammu city on Friday, trapping at least three to four labourers under the debris, while one injured worker was rescued, official sources said.
Authorities have closed the road link following the collapse of the portion of the bridge.
The incident occurred when labourers were carrying out repair work on a retaining wall near the bridge that was damaged in last year's flash floods, the sources said.
According to the sources, a section of the bridge suddenly gave way, burying workers engaged at the site under the rubble.
Police, Army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams launched rescue operations to extricate those buried under the debris. They pulled out one injured labourer and shifted him to a hospital, the sources said.
Family members of the labourers present at the site said around six workers engaged at the site at the time of the incident came under the debris when the structure collapsed. The family members said while two of the labourers managed to escape, four got trapped.
The sources said those trapped included the husband of a woman labourer, a mason, an unmarried labourer and a relative of the contractor.
There was no official confirmation on the exact number of persons trapped under the debris till the filing of this report.
The rescue operations are ongoing.
