Saturday's dawn-to-dusk transport strike appeared to have fizzled out in the city as the day wore on. The agitation partially affected normal life and the working of major industrial units in the district.
Two wheelers and cars were seen on the roads from morning. The city and inter-district buses operated by the KSRTC brought respite to commuters who depend on public transport. But many people who arrived in railway stations and bus stands had to hunt for a mode of transport since autorickshaws, taxi cars and private buses kept off the road.
No untoward incident
The District Transport Officer K.C.Venugopal said that a few KSRTC services were curtailed at 7.30 a.m. following warning from police about the possibility of untoward incidents. “The services were back to normal by 11.30 am, but the overall collection was low. Low-floor AC buses too plied in select routes. By evening, services were back to near normal.”
Police sources said that no untoward incidents were reported from any part of the city or its suburbs. Policemen were posted at prominent spots.
Movement of cargo to and from the Cochin port area and from the International Container Transshipment Terminal were at a standstill as goods carriers called off their operations for the day in support of the strike against the latest hike in petrol price.
A spokesman for the Port Trust said that loading and unloading operations were not affected by the strike; administrative works were partially hit.
Working of public sector undertakings like Hindustan Machine Tools, Kalamassery, and Fertilizers and Chemicals, Travancore, were not affected by the strike. Functioning of the Cochin Shipyard was normal.
Functioning of units at the Cochin Special Economic Zone was also affected by the transport strike. Movement of cooking gas was affected by the strike though operations at the Bharat Petroleum Corporation's Kochi refinery were normal. Working of the District Collectorate was affected with attendance down at 35 per cent for the day.
