New Delhi, Sep 10: Commuters will face a harrowing time on Monday as many services will be unavailable in the wake of a nationwide shutdown called by the Congress. The nationwide shutdown has been called against the surge in fuel prices and a decline in rupee value against the dollar. Reports inform that leaders of nearly 21 political parties will take part in ‘Bharat Bandh’ today. Normal life will take a hit in many states as taxi and auto services, Government and private bus services, airport taxis, Cinema halls, multiplexes and shopping malls are believed to be affected by the nationwide shutdown.

It must be noted that the nationwide shutdown on Monday will be observed from 9 am to 3 pm. Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that the party had chosen the timing of the bandh in a manner so that the common man was not “inconvenienced”  due to it.

The services that will remain unaffected include milk supply, hospitals will remain open and all emergency services like chemist shops will remain open. Meanwhile,  metro services are also believed to be unaffected despite the Bandh. In Bengaluru, schools and colleges will remain shut on Monday as a precautionary measure. Meanwhile, the education department of other state said that there would be no holiday for schools and colleges.

Reports inform that except for Namma Metro, all transport service in Karnataka will take a hit. Workers of state-run transport corporations – BMTC, KSRTC, NWKRTC, NEKRTC are believed to a part of the nationwide strike. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Samajwadi Party (SP), among others, have extended support to the nationwide shutdown.

In Odisha, the state government has directed all schools to remain closed on September 10 and has ordered to ensure maintenance of essential services in the districts during the planned strike. In Tamil Nadu, the opposition parties in including the DMK, have extended their support to the Congress for the nationwide strike today.

On Sunday, petrol and diesel prices set new records as they continued their upward march on fall in rupee and surge in global crude oil rates. According to the price notification issued by state fuel retailers, petrol price was up by 12 paise a litre and diesel by 10 paise per litre. The increase pushed the petrol price in Delhi to Rs 80.50 per litre while diesel price touched its highest level of Rs 72.61 a litre. According to a PTI report,  since mid-August, petrol price has risen by Rs 3.42 a litre and diesel by Rs 3.84 per litre as the rupee hit a record low against the US dollar, making imports costlier.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 10, 2018 12:04 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).