The indefinite private bus stir in the district was called off on Monday afternoon even as the employees called for a state-wide strike from December 29 demanding increase in daily wages.
It was a harrowing time for regular passengers in the district as a majority of the buses stayed off the road. And to make matters worse, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) failed to run even the usual services, not to mention the extra trips.
“We were not in a position to operate additional services as 30 buses, including six Thiru-Kochi, were diverted to Pampa. In the non-AC category, we could not operate four buses as two were in for maintenance, while drivers were unavailable to run the other two. In addition to this, five AC low-floor services could not be operated”, said George Thomas, Assistant Transport Officer, Ernakulam Region.
The stir mainly affected schools students and office goers in the city outskirts like Panangad. “My daughter who is doing her plus –two, had her premodels and we had to hire an auto and travel nearly 10 km to reach the school on time. No bus plied along the route today”, said Sheila Thomas, a resident of Panangad.
