Bharat Bandh has no major impact as life goes on as normal in Sangam city

Prayagraj: On the call given by the United Kisan Morcha for Bharat Bandh, the Prayagraj district witnessed sporadic and short protests at various places including in the urban and rural areas. The workers of the Bharatiya Kisan Union blocked the road at many places including Dhoomanganj because of which the morning commuters faced problems for several hours due to jams.
Likewise, protests were reported from Jaari and Ghoopur areas of trans-Yamuna. Business in the city remained unaffected as most of the markets remained open.
Workers of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) and All Indian Kisan Majdoor Sabha (AIKMS) along with members of Samajwadi Party (SP) and farmers held separate demonstrations in various parts of Prayagraj during the day in response to the call for the “Bharat Bandh”.
The protestors, including many women, also staged roads blocks at various sites including Sulem Sarai Bazaar in Dhumanganj disrupting traffic on the Prayagraj-Kanpur highway for hours. Protests were also reported from the Jari, Bara and Ghoorpur areas of the trans-Yamuna belt and also from Phulpur in the trans-Ganga area of the district. However, routine life and business in the city remained unaffected as most of the markets remained open and so did the commercial activities.
Schools and offices of various government, semi-government and private sectors remained opened and functioned normally. The police force, backed by PAC personnel responded to the sites and tried to convince the protestors to call off the road blockages but in vain. Only after they stopped the protest could the flow of traffic resume on the roads.
IG Prayagraj Range KP Singh said that no untoward incident has been reported in the region during the “Bharat Bandh”. “Memorandum of the protestors were taken by officials present on the scene and the road blockages were cleared as soon as possible.”
BKU (Arajnaitik) district president Anuj Singh accused the central and the state governments of ignoring the demands of the farmers and turning a blind eye to their suffering. Dubbing the government as anti-farmer, Singh said that despite the farmers’ protest now continuing for months, the government had failed to resolve their issues.
Right from the eve of the pre-announced protest, police and PAC teams were deployed at various intersections and intensive patrolling was underway to ensure peace. Even at railway stations of Prayagraj including the Junction station, Rambagh, Prayagraj Sangam and Prayagraj Cheoki, RPF and GRP personnel remained extra vigilant.
Hundreds of workers of Bharatiya Kisan Union took out a motorcycle rally near Dhumanganj Sulemsarai and protested. After this, the farmers loaded on the tractors parked the tractor on the middle road and blocked the road. Soon, the police reached the spot and made futile efforts to convince the agitating farmers to remove the blockage, but the farmer leaders were adamant about their demands. Because of road blockage, the Kanpur-Prayagraj witnessed a road jam that lasted for several hours.
Attempts to block the road were made at Shankargarh, Koraon, Bahria, Sarai Mamrej located on GT Road. However, in the presence of a heavy police force, traffic movement remained smooth.
Shops and markets remained by and large open throughout the day, barring for one hour when many of the shopkeepers pulled down the shutters of their shops when a procession of protestors passed on the main MG road of Civil Lines. However, shops at different localities and that of Chowk and Katra remained unaffected during the call for the bandh.