Road blockades called off, traffic back to normal

The shopkeeper at Dhodha Sweets shop at Kotkapura main chowk said: “I had not been making the routine sweatmeats for the past two weeks”

Employees of the nearby Janta Vaishno Dhaba, too, had scaled down food preparations.

Bus operators claimed they were the worst-hit in the road blockades.

Kala Dhillon, president, Malwa Bus Operators’ Union said: “In October, buses did not run for more than a week. Apart from road blockades by Sikh outfits, farmers too had blocked some roads. In September, too, there were blockades by farmerfor many days. We have to pay special road tax despite the fact our buses remained off road for almost 30 days in September as well as October.”

Dhillon said they will present a memorandum to state transport commissioner for exemption of road tax for a month.