Tourists and locals once again bore the brunt of the TNSTC strike in the Nilgiris on Monday with only around a 100 of the more than 300 buses said to have been operating throughout the course of the day.
Officials said that till 11 a.m., only 10 buses from Udhagamandalam, 22 from Gudalur and five each from Coonoor and Kotagiri had left the depots. Many private mini buses were operational and they plied between Udhagamandalam and Mettupalayam, carrying stranded tourists to Coimbatore.
Most tourists decided to extend their stay till Tuesday, while some waited at the bus depots hoping to board buses headed towards Coimbatore or Kerala. M Nagesh, from Coimbatore, said that he and his friends had been waiting for over three hours since Monday morning for a bus to Coimbatore. They had already postponed their trip back home on Sunday night due to the heavily crowded buses.
Many taxi operators began operating share services, which did help stranded tourists.
Locals also faced tremendous problems with no bus connectivity to the outskirts of the towns of Udhagamandalam, Gudalur and Coonoor.
S. Ranjith, a daily wage worker who had to come to Udhagamandalam from Nunthala, said that he hitched a ride on board a vegetable lorry. He said that he was still trying to figure out how he would get home in the evening.
Many drivers of private buses and tourist vehicles were roped in by the TNSTC in the Nilgiris to drive the buses left in the depots. However, as there were not enough conductors, there were further delays in getting the buses out of the depots and into the towns. A section of the TNSTC bus drivers protested the move and around 10 of them were picked up by the Nilgiris district police and arrested.
Staff Reporter from Tirupur adds: Around 30 per cent of the buses belonging to TNSTC’s fleet in the district were operated on Monday. Sources said the drivers belonging to ATP trade union and trainee drivers were utilised to operate the buses.
