Private buses, taxis and autorickshaws remained off the road, shops and restaurants remained closed, educational institutions went without classes and attendance in the State government offices was thin.

The hartal, however, did not seriously affect factories and Central and State public sector undertakings and banks. Train services were not hit and the state road transport corporation maintained a few short-distance convoy services.

In the state capital and other towns LDF workers took out marches demanding that the Centre rollback the prices of ration articles, cooking gas and urea.

According to reports from Kochi except private vehicles mainly two-wheelers all other modes of transport were off the roads in the city and suburbs.

Shops andbusiness establishments remained closed in most parts of the city. Minor incidents of stone throwing on hotels which opened in the morning were reported from a few places in the city.

According to official reports there 60 per cent of the non-managerial staff and 70 percent of the managerial staff reported for duty at the public sector fertilisers and chemicals Travancore Ltd at the Kochi-Eloor industrial belt. The Cochin refineries reported 90 per cent attendance while the attendance reported by the Cochin Shipyard Ltd was only 45 per cent.

A Thrissur report said the town wore a deserted look as shops remained closed and virtually no traffic on the roads. In some places, the hartal-supporters obstructed private vehicles from plying.

Hartal was near total in Kozhikode with shops and business establishments keeping their shutters down and private buses off the roads. Attendance in the district collectorate was about 20 per cent, district collector Manoj Joshi said. Police helped incomingpassengers at Karipur airport and the railway station to reach their destinations.

The hartal was near total in Kottayam where the attendance in government offices was less than 20 per cent.

The hartal affected the normal life in Kasargode but no untoward incident had been reported.