A statewide bandh called by sanitation workers and the Valmiki community threw normal life out of gear today.The shutdown, triggered by the ongoing three-week stir over regularisation of services and aggravated by the police lathicharge on protesters in Barnala, saw widespread support across the Malwa, Doaba, and Majha regions.From Ferozepur to Amritsar, Phagwara and Ropar, major markets remained shut till afternoon. While essential services, including chemist shops and hospitals, were largely spared, public transport and private educational institutions bore the brunt of the agitation.In Ropar district, where the sanitation crisis has hit a critical breaking point, protesters took to the streets in tractor-trailers loaded with waste. In Nangal, striking workers warned shopkeepers of dumping garbage outside commercial establishments if they failed to observe the shutdown.Despite aggressive enforcement by unions in Anandpur Sahib and Ropar, local authorities and the police force maintained a cautious distance to prevent clashes, leaving residents to decry government passivity.The bandh affected Barnala, Bathinda, Mansa, Ferozepur, Faridkot, Moga, Abohar, Fazilka, Jalalabad, Malout, Muktsar, Gidderbaha and other towns, with markets and most business establishments remaining closed.The sanitation workers, joined by traders, farmers, farm labourers, employees, politicians and members of various social organisations, staged demonstrations at several locations. The protesters also burnt effigies of the state government and the police, while the bandh remained largely peaceful.With door-to-door garbage collection suspended for the past 20 days, massive heaps of unattended household and commercial waste have accumulated in residential colonies, market corridors and along the roadsides across the state.Heavy rainfall in different parts of Punjab has severely scaled up the crisis. With drains clogged and an unbearable stench, the outbreak of vector-borne diseases has increased manifold in the state.In several areas of the Fazilka district, frustrated locals reportedly set trash on fire, triggering environmental and health concerns.The agitation intensified following a July 22 clash near SD College in Barnala, where 18 sanitation workers and four police personnel were injured during an attempted garbage-lifting operation.Gulshan Kumar, district chief of the Safai Sewak Union, Barnala, confirmed that the state government has invited them for high-level negotiations on Friday. Previous rounds of talks had ended in a deadlock, he said.The Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union on Thursday extended support to sanitation workers. The union said its members participated in demonstrations at Bathinda, Barnala, Bhagta, Muktsar, Gidderbaha, Nakodar, Faridkot, Malerkotla and Moonak, among other places.