The sudden suspension of the lone bus service, (R. No. 60 K) operated by the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (Villupuram Division), to their village in the evening has thrown life out of gear for hundreds of families of Kumizhi Village Panchayat, about 15 km from Guduvanchery on the Grand Southern Trunk Road.
The facility is used by students (30) of the Govt. High School and other residents of Kumizhi. Usually, the bus would reach Guduvanchery from Tambaram around 5 p.m.
Over the past week or so, the bus was delayed by more than two hours and since August 22, it did not come even past 8 p.m.
Students, along with other residents, had walked back home all the way – a gruelling 13 km, that too passing thick reserve forests. Some private vehicles and share auto rickshaws dropped some of them at villages on the way, but no vehicle went all the way till Kumizhi.
Recently, the students of the Government High School staged a demonstration near the school premises in Kumizhi, protesting the poor response from different departments of the State Government in ensuring proper bus connectivity to their village.
On Thursday evening, the students, angry as 60 K was not operated for the second day in succession, took a bus from Guduvanchery and reached Tambaram and squatted outside the depot of TNSTC (Villupuram Division). Policemen pacified the students and sent them home in a police vehicle and a private van.
As there was no improvement in the situation, the students, supported by their teachers, parents, college students and village elders took part in the protest at the high school in their village. Students said that in 2001, the Government operated 12 single trips between Tambaram and Kumizhi via Guduvanchery. Five years later, it was reduced to just two trips.
Over the past few days, while only the morning service took them from their homes to Guduvanchery and Tambaram, the evening service had been suspended for reasons known to none.
Students said that the plight of teachers at the high school in Kumizhi was even worse as they had to come from far off places. Policemen, citing sources at the Transport Department, said that the road was severely damaged due to plying of hundreds of lorries transporting stones from quarries in Keerapakkam and hence the evening service alone was suspended.
The students urged the Government, especially the Kancheepuram District Administration, to intervene and restore the service.
According to the students and residents, people living in far flung and remote villages were always at the receiving end, suffering a lot in terms of lack of adequate transport connectivity with the Kancheepuram District Administration.
The students wanted the Government to set things right, as soon as possible.
