For the nearly 13 lakh residents of Chennai who take the bus every day, the work-week started with a long wait in the sun at bus stops, tough negotiations with auto drivers and crew of private buses, and finding their way to overcrowded train stations. Many simply decided to walk the extra distance. With fewer than half of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation’s 3,200 buses plying, the transport strike threw city life out of gear on Monday.
Additional suburban train services operated by Southern Railway provided little relief for the harried passengers since commuting to the stations posed problems.
For commuters like Keerthi Vasan, who works at a private hospital in Nandanam, the journey from Minjur was a struggle. “I usually take a train up to Chennai Central and then take a bus to Nandanam. Today, I travelled by train up to West Mambalam and had to walk down since I didn't get a bus,” he said.
Revanth Mallikarjuna, whose mobile app iCommute provides information on buses and trains, said, “Commuters from areas like Avadi, Ambattur, Madhavaram, Besant Nagar, K.K. Nagar etc. reported less frequency of MTC services. Commuters also complained that available services were over-crowded.”
Added to this, a train derailed in Arakkonam, due to which many services ran late. People from Arakkonam could not travel towards Sholingur and had to go back because of unavailability of services, he added.
Many commuters sought out app-based cab and autorickshaw services. Ola launched the ‘Ola Shuttle’ services in the city on Monday. While the service is already available in other cities, it was introduced in Chennai just for a day. The shuttles were available on nearly 20 routes from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Confusion at Koyambedu
At CMBT, Koyambedu, private buses commandered to tide over the crisis clogged the bus stand, denying access to government buses. Commuters complained that the crew of private buses was overcharging them by claiming that the RTO office and the District Collectorate had permitted them to collect additional fare. A Chennai-Vellore trip cost ₹110 on Monday from CMBT. The ticket was priced at ₹81 in government buses.
A. Kumar, a private bus conductor, said the buses were taken from other parts of the State to Chennai with the permission of the RTOs and District Collectors to help commuters in the city. “We have been waiting for more than 45 minutes to get passengers. We will start once we get an adequate number,” said Mr. Kumar.
Patients and hospital staff faced difficulties getting to healthcare facilities. Though government hospitals reported no dip in the number of out-patients, several patients and their families said they had to travel by autorickshaws or cabs after waiting in vain for buses.
At Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital, B. Jamuna and her family, including a 20-day-old baby, waited for an hour at a bus stop in Parivakkam, before getting an autorickshaw that brought them to the hospital for ₹700. “By bus, it would have cost ₹50 or so. It was very difficult waiting with children in the heat at the bus stop. Now, we have to pay the same amount to go back,” she said.
K. Kavitha at Government Royapettah Hospital was left with no money, after an autorickshaw charged her ₹200 from K.K. Nagar to the hospital. “I don’t even have money to buy my son anything to eat,” she said. Her son had suffered a fracture on his arm.
Flower market slump
Retail trade at the flower market of the Koyambedu wholesale complex was also affected. S.K. Veeramani, a flower merchant, said sales dropped 25% on Monday as many retail traders travelled by bus to the market. Normally, about 2,000 kg of flowers are sold daily. However, sales at vegetable and fruits markets was not affected.
In Kancheepuram, striking transport workers watched in anger as buses from outside the district as well as school and college buses started entering the bus stands in the morning.
Striking union members turned their ire on Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation buses by picking up quarrels with the crew of those buses.
(With Aloysius Xavier Lopez, Zubeda Hamid, R. Srikanth, Sunitha Sekar, V. Venkatasubramanian S. Poorvaja and K. Lakshmi )
