The might of the red flag and an inert administration ensured a complete shutdown in Calcutta on Wednesday.

Buses and taxis were off the road, forcing an intrepid HSBC employee to set off for his Karunamoyee office, in Salt Lake, on his motorcycle. But he was stopped near Ruby General Hospital by Citu supporters.

“It is an industrial strike and we are not allowing anyone to move,” thundered a young bandh backer.

Such blockades were also seen in the Rajabazar, Beleghata, Santoshpur, Santragachhi and the airport areas.

“We were shocked at the government’s inaction, which encouraged bandh sponsors to trample on citizens’ rights. The administration actually supported the bandh by allowing the transport system to collapse,” said Suranjan Ghosh Roy Chowdhury, an FM channel employee who failed to report for work on Wednesday.

The Left Front government’s support to the Left trade unions’ bandh cost the state exchequer dear.

“We run around 345 buses on an average every day, most of them on long routes. Today, not a single vehicle left the garage,” said Asit Mondal, the managing director of South Bengal State Transport Corporation.

According to a senior official, the corporation had incurred a loss of around Rs 15 lakh.

Calcutta State Transport Corporation (CSTC) and North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC), too, could not run their buses. Around 620 CSTC buses and 700 NBSTC buses hit the road daily.

Insiders admitted that had the bandh been called by an Opposition party, at least 65 per cent of the state buses would have rolled out in the morning to test the waters.

Metro Railway services were also affected.

Market associations across the city admitted to being afraid. “No trader dared to open his establishment as the bandh was called by the Left,” said Pradip Chakrabarty of the SS Hogg Market Association.

Posta transport contractor Krishna Pratap Singh had to pay a heavy price for daring to carry on with his business.

“A Citu procession was passing by when goods were being loaded on my lorries around 2.30pm. The activists wanted me to down shutters. When I refused, they vandalised the goods,” Singh wrote in his complaint lodged with Posta police station.

The red muscle was flexed even in emergency services. In Dum Dum, a few bandh supporters stopped a team of CESC technicians. Cars with the “Press” sticker, too, came under attack.

In Patipukur, bandh supporters placed two huge tree branches on Jessore Road. Like many others, Subhra Dey, in her 60s, was forced to walk the stretch. “I was on my way to Kalindi where I stay. The rickshaw could not proceed because of the blockade.”