The indefinite strike by the private bus employees and the token strike called by a section of KSRTC employees on Tuesday, are likely to cause much inconvenience for the public and students.
The unions representing private bus employees said here that the private bus strike which began on Monday was complete in the state. The rural areas and north Kerala were the worst affected as the majority of the services operated in these areas are by private buses.
Kerala State Road Transport Employees Association (KSRTEA), affiliated to the CITU, will strike work on Tuesday to express solidarity with the agitation by government employees against the participatory pension scheme. The operation of KSRTC services are likely to be hit on Tuesday though the pro-UDF organisations had declared that they would not be part of the stir.
The one-day strike by a section of the KSRTC employees on Tuesday will not affect Sabarimala pilgrims as the striking unions have stated that the RTC schedules connected with Pampa service have been exempted from the strike. Pampa KSRTC special officer Easter Yashika said that the striking union had already declared that that the schedules to Pampa were excluded from the one-day agitation. Yashika said that the Pampa-Nilackal chain service, one of the important services operated by the RTC, would function as usual. The 120 buses kept apart for the chain service would operate as per schedule, he said.
In Thiruvananthapuram city, the private bus strike which began on Monday did not have much impact as the KSRTC operated services. However, the private bus strike was total in rural areas and this caused much difficulties to the public. Idukki district was badly hit as at least 800 buses went off the road on Monday.
The worst affected were those in the high range areas where people heavily depend on private buses.
Students and employees were unable to reach schools and offices on time due to bus strike in Alappuzha district. The KSRTC conducted special services to some parts of the district, but these were not sufficient, according to passengers.
Many of the schools in Kochi city remained closed on Monday and functioning of government offices were also affected due to strike. Infopark functioned as usual and attendance was normal with the companies allotting cabs and tempo vans for the transporting their employees. Though KSRTC operated additional 178 services in Thrissur district, it was bring much solace to the travel woes of commuters. Bus stands and major bus stops in towns witnessed crowds of commuters waiting for KSRTC buses and other parallel services to go to work places. Hundreds of students waiting for vehicles to reach schools were a common sight from early in the morning in Kozhikode district. Since most of the KSRTC buses were diverted to operate on the Sabarimala route, the KSRTC also struggled to run additional services. Though KSRTC buses made services in Kasargod town it could resolve the travel woes of people only to some extent.
Police vans offered free trips giving big relief to people in town area.
Source: New Indian Express
