The bus strike called by a joint panel of private bus operators in the State, hit normal life on Tuesday.
The bus owners called the strike to press for their demands, including revision of the student concession. The response to the strike call was almost total with around 7,5,00 buses being off the road in the State.
Normal life was badly hit in north and central Kerala, where the people depend heavily on private buses for their public transportation, while the impact of the strike was minimal in south Kerala where the majority of the city and rural services were operated by Kerala State Road Transportation (KSRTC). Further, the KSRTC has pressed in additional services in the wake of a token strike call by the private bus operators.
Attendance was thin in many schools and government offices in north Kerala. Many were seen waiting for hours for buses operated by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) to reach their destinations at the mofussil bus stand in Kozhikode city. Though the KSRTC deployed additional buses to cater to the needs of travellers, it was not enough. Those who had to travel to remote destinations were the worst affected in Kozhikode.
In Kannur and parts of Kozhikode, it was the second consecutive harrowing day for the commuters as the city buses in Kannur and the inter-district vehicles had gone on a flash strike on Monday in protest against the arrest of a bus conductor under POCSO charges. In Ernakulam, around 2,000 private buses stayed off roads. Several commuters in Kochi city struggled to catch public transport services even as the KSRTC operated extra schedules to destinations such as the Kerala High Court, Thevara and Vyttila. The bus strike, however, did not seriously affect the functioning of government offices in Ernakulam. In Thrissur, a few number of private buses operated despite the strike call. However, the strike was total, said the office-bearers of the bus owner’s association.
Speaking to The Hindu, T. Gopinathan, general convener of the joint panel, said the strike was total with over 99% of the buses keeping off the road. The bus owners would go ahead with the indefinite strike plan from November if the authorities were not keen on addressing the concerns of the bus owners, said Mr. Gopinathan.
The main demand of the bus owners is to revise the student concession in tune with the revised bus fares implemented in the State from May 2022. Further, the bus owners protested against the State’s decision to unilaterally implement reforms causing additional financial burdens for them, such as making mandatory seat belts and compulsory installation of surveillance cameras on buses.
Additional services
KSRTC operated over 1,600 additional services on Tuesday connecting major stations including hospitals, airports, and railway stations on all major routes in Kerala after rescheduling services and pressing more buses to avoid travel woes caused by the private bus strike.
(With input from regional bureaus)
