Mumbai civic employees call off stir

The strike by civic employees affiliated to the Sharad Rao-led union was called off on Wednesday night.

Over 100,000 civic workers had proceeded on three-day mass casual leave on Wednesday to press for their various demands, relating to pay and dearness allowance.

Their move had paralysed the city's transport system, adversely affected services in government-run hospitals and collection of garbage in various parts of the city.

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"We decided to call off the strike since we did not wish to inconvenience the citizens. That was not the aim of the strike," union sources said in Mumbai.

"At a meeting held with Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Vijaysinh Mohite Patil and Home Minister R R Patil, the government had urged us to call of the strike taking into consideration the inconvenience caused to the citizens and the incessant rains in the city," the sources added.