Despite the best efforts of authorities concerned to maintain normality, more than 75 per cent of the TNSTC buses were off the road in Salem district, causing much hardship to the common people.
Since the break of the dawn, people were seen waiting for the TNSTC buses in the new bus stand in the city and also in the bus stands in the rural towns. The TNSTC managed to operate only skeleton services in the morning hours. The private buses had a field day and they were found occupying every inch of the space available in the new bus stand.
A majority of the TNSTC buses remained parked in the four city depots on Meyyanur road, Ramakrishna road, Johnsonpet and Erumapalayam and also in the eight rural centres of Omalur, Taramangalam, Mettur, Vazhappadi, Thammampatti, Attur, Sankagiri and Edappadi, due to the failure of the drivers to turn up.
Some of the TNSTC buses were operated by using drivers of school and college vehicles.
The TNSTC regular services to the hill station of Yercaud were not operated on Monday. The private buses that plied to Yercaud from Salem overflowed with tourists. Many of the villages on the Yercaud hills went without TNSTC town bus services.
The senior officials of the TNSTC and the RTOs camped in the new bus stand and other bus stands to make arrangements for ensuring regular bus services.
The District Collector, V. Sampath, accompanied by senior officials inspected the bus depots and the new bus stand on late Sunday evening.
The Collector also conducted surprise check of the private buses and booked six private buses for collecting exorbitant fare from the commuters.
The Collector has also formed special teams comprising deputy collectors, revenue divisional officers and tahsildars to monitor the bus stands and bus depots and sort out the issues instantly.
The transport department sources said that surprise checks will be conducted in the private and omni buses regularly during the strike period.
The windscreens of two buses suffered damages when miscreants pelted stones on them near Edappadi and Thammampatti towns.
One Kaliaperumal, a senior citizen suffered minor injury on the leg when he was hit by a TNSTC bus with a temporary driver on the wheels. He was admitted to the GH.
Udayakumar, district secretary of the CITU, told reporters that of the 13,000 employees in TNSTC Salem region, more than 9,000 participated in the strike. He condemned the operation of buses with inexperienced drivers and said it posed danger to the lives of the people. He also came down against the government for intimidating the striking workers.
Namakkal
A majority of the total 340 TNSTC buses were operated in the district. The commuters thronged the private buses in large numbers. The government buses were operated from four depots, Namakkal, Rasipuram, Tiruchengodu, and Pallipalayam, with police protection as commuters boarded the buses outside the bus stand. Interior villages in Rasipuram, Belukurichi and Mullukurichi were affected as town buses were not operated due to protest by drivers. District Collector M. Asia Mariam inspected the depots and reviewed the operations and also the security arrangements for the buses.
