Densely populated Muzaffarnagar, best known for being a major sugarcane and jaggery production centre, has virtually turned into a ghost city since the imposition of indefinite curfew on Saturday night in its Nai Mandi, Shahar Kotwali and Civil Lines police station areas.
All major markets including Asia's biggest jaggery 'mandi' in the Nai Mandi area, Bhagat Singh Road, Ansari Road, Meenakshi Chowk, Jhansi ki Rani and SD Markets, Arya Sharma Road and Shiv Chowk wore a deserted look on Sunday due to a complete shutdown.
Fear-stricken residents in the city and its nearby 15 villages and townships such as Kutba Kutbi, Shahpur, Soram and Tawli kept indoors through the day, fearing another eruption of violence.
"If the authorities concerned do not bring the situation under control in a day or two and the curfew continues to be in force for a couple of more days, we'll start facing an acute shortage of essential commodities such as milk, vegetables and other day-to-day items," said social activist Veena Sharma (54) in Nai Mandi locality.
Many residents of Civil Lines and Nai Mandi areas blamed ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders and the authorities concerned for their failure to check the communal rioting. They accused the district authorities of acting at the behest of local SP leaders in failing to arrest the men who had hacked two youths identified as Sachin and Gaurav to death for allegedly harassing a girl from the minority community at Kawal village in the district on August 27.
Muzaffarnagar violence: Death toll mounts to 28; 4 BJP MLAs, Cong leader booked - The Times of India
All major markets including Asia's biggest jaggery 'mandi' in the Nai Mandi area, Bhagat Singh Road, Ansari Road, Meenakshi Chowk, Jhansi ki Rani and SD Markets, Arya Sharma Road and Shiv Chowk wore a deserted look on Sunday due to a complete shutdown.
Fear-stricken residents in the city and its nearby 15 villages and townships such as Kutba Kutbi, Shahpur, Soram and Tawli kept indoors through the day, fearing another eruption of violence.
"If the authorities concerned do not bring the situation under control in a day or two and the curfew continues to be in force for a couple of more days, we'll start facing an acute shortage of essential commodities such as milk, vegetables and other day-to-day items," said social activist Veena Sharma (54) in Nai Mandi locality.
Many residents of Civil Lines and Nai Mandi areas blamed ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders and the authorities concerned for their failure to check the communal rioting. They accused the district authorities of acting at the behest of local SP leaders in failing to arrest the men who had hacked two youths identified as Sachin and Gaurav to death for allegedly harassing a girl from the minority community at Kawal village in the district on August 27.
Muzaffarnagar violence: Death toll mounts to 28; 4 BJP MLAs, Cong leader booked - The Times of India