By IANS
Chennai : The ruling DMK and its allies in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will go ahead with a strike call on Monday demanding implementation of the Sethusamudram canal project, but said essential services would not be affected.
The DMK and its allies have called for the protest to impress upon the central government to get the Supreme Court stay on the canal project off the Tamil Nadu coast vacated.
Meanwhile, the AIADMK has moved the apex court seeking a direction to restrain the DMK and its allies from observing the bandh.
An official release here said Saturday that the Tamil Nadu government “will take stern action against those indulging in violence and damaging public property on Oct 1. Normal life including traffic and law and order would not be affected.”
It said the government “has instructed district officials and police officers to provide adequate protection to railway stations, bus depots, main roads and junctions.”
Essential services like telecommunications, water and milk supply, electricity, newspapers and hospitals will be maintained, it said.
A division bench of the Madras High Court had Friday allowed the bandh advising the government to order all top officials “to ensure that no political parties or organisations can by force or intimidation stop or interfere with the road and rail traffic and free movement of citizens”.
The bench ordered notices returnable by Oct 24 to the DMK, Congress, Left parties and the PMK, participating in the bandh, on three petitions filed by the AIADMK and two others who opposed the bandh.
Unions affiliated to the Congress and the Left parties like the AITUC, INTUC, and the CITU and DMK unions have announced that they will support the shutdown. Transport unions and government employees unions too have decided to support it.
DMK leader and former Puducherry chief minister R.V. Janakiraman told the media that a similar bandh will take place in the union territory.