Rickshaws that stayed off roads near Court More in Siliguri on Wednesday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

Aug. 20: Nearly 1,000 students of Malda’s Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Vidyamandir were stopped by the DYFI and SFI, both CPM affiliates, from writing their examinations as the 24-hour shutdown called by Left unions almost crippled life in north Bengal.

Swami Dibyananda, the secretary of the school, said since the strike was called by trade unions, it should not have affected educational institutions. “The unions had exempted exams, which is why we went ahead,” he said. Other schools and colleges in the district were closed. The flood control room in Malda, however, was operational.

In other five north Bengal districts, everything — from transport, banks and offices to markets, schools and colleges – was closed. No flights operated from Bagdogra Airport.

The Up Darjeeling Mail, which left Sealdah last night, reached Malda in the evening after being detained at Farakka for quite some time. Gaur Express also reached its destination — Malda — at 6.30pm, about 12 hours late.

At New Jalpaiguri station, Guwahati-bound Kamrup Express, Delhi-bound Brahmaputra Mail and Ranchi-bound Alipurduar-Ranchi Express were detained. The Sealdah-bound Kanchenjunga Express was stuck at Mainaguri, while the Guwahati-bound Rajdhani Express was detained at Katihar and the Avadh-Assam Express and Northeast Express were stopped at Aluabari.

The departure of several express trains that originate from NJP like Darjeeling Mail, Teesta-Torsa Express and Kanchankanya Express was delayed by several hours because of the late or non-arrival of the corresponding Up trains. According to NJP station manager Niranjan Ray, these trains are expected to leave around midnight.

District magistrates and senior officials across the region attended office but most of the subordinate employees were absent. “We have not seen such a complete strike in recent times,” said Debashis Ghosh of Hakimpara. Even rickshaws did not ply and pan and cigarette shops were shut.