With a section of MTC drivers and conductors going on strike on Monday morning, many western and southern localities in the city came to a standstill.
Many commuters spent more than two hours in almost empty bus terminuses and bus stands hoping that the strike would be called off and buses would begin plying.
The strike call was in response to an incident of road rage on Sunday night when A. Senthil Suresh, son of an Ambattur Municipal Councillor A. Anbu, got into an argument with an MTC crew after rashly overtaking the bus at Padi. According to the Thirumangalam police, the argument snowballed into a confrontation and Senthil along with his friends assaulted the MTC crew. Two more buses which were on the way to their respective depots were also attacked.
P. Kottaisamy, a driver at the Anna Nagar West depot, works along with one of the drivers, who was injured in the incident. “There is no safety or security for us at work. The strike call is a result of months of frustration. Incidents of MTC workers being assaulted have become frequent,” he said.
S. Jamuna Rani, a resident of Otteri, who was waiting at the Villivakkam bus terminus, said “I have been waiting here for almost two hours. There is no one to give information on when the buses would be operated.”
While many commuters like her decided to walk to the nearest railway station, some were at the mercy of overcrowded autorickshaws that resorted to fleecing.
Nearly 55 lakh people use MTC services every day in the city. About 25 per cent of those board a bus between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. Due to the flash strike; many were left stranded.
While the repercussion of the strike was felt immediately in Thirumangalam and Padi early on Monday morning, it spread within hours to other parts of the city such as Vadapalani, Poonamallee and Mandaveli.
K. Malathi, a banker from Medavakkam came to the Mandaveli bus depot around 11 a.m. to find it locked. “MTC staff members were standing outside preventing people from getting inside to board a bus. After waiting for 30 minutes, I managed to get an autorickshaw to come to Anna Salai for which I had to pay Rs.100,” she said.
In the absence of a terminus or adequate parking bays in East Tambaram, MTC buses were parked on either side of the Velachery Main Road, leading to traffic chaos during rush hour. Share-autorickshaws were jammed with commuters between Medavakkam and Camp Road junctions, many of them willing to pay twice the regular fare to reach Tambaram railway station. Many companies, realising the problem, started operating shuttle service for their employees stuck in bus depots.
N. Rajendrakumar, a testing professional with software firm Cap Gemini, waited close to three hours at Thiruvanmiyur depot till a cab from his company came to pick him and his colleagues.
Staff members at Quaid-E-Millath Government College for Women said the attendance was thin because of the strike, while some students of Ethiraj College said they had little choice but to depend on autorickshaws as internal examinations were on.
R. S. Rajkumar, a final-year engineering student, said, “I was not aware of the bus strike. I travel from Pattabiram to Avadi by train and then take a bus to college in Muthapudupet. I waited for more than an hour in the terminus and came back home as I was already late for my exam. I later learnt that one-third of my classmates were absent.” Students from interior areas such as Pakkam and Kovilpadagai who solely depend on MTC buses stayed back home.
Though services were restored by around 4.30 p.m. following negotiations, only 70 per cent of the fleet was operational and bus stops continued to remain crowded even during the evening rush hour.
MTC Managing Director V. Babu said that even if an MTC driver is at fault, there is a grievance cell to report the violation. “No driver should be assaulted and we take strict action against any employee who resorts to physical violence,” he added
