Commuters dependent on public transport buses had a taste of the lockdown that is due to begin on Tuesday evening, on Tuesday morning itself, as limited bus services were operated. Though the lockdown is to fully come into effect only from 6 p.m. onwards, commuters, particularly those in the southern and western suburbs, faced severe hardships because of limited services. On some routes, buses were not operated at all.
Bus services were severely curtailed in some localities, which are already poorly connected, such as Sithalapakkam, Kovilancheri, Mambakkam, West Velachery, Pattabhiram, Valasaravakkam, and Mogappair.
T. Kumar, a resident of Sithalapakkam, said he found it difficult to reach Medavakkam as there were no MTC buses and finally had to pay double the cost by travelling in a share autorickshaw.
A senior official of MTC, denying that bus services were not adequate, said buses were operated normally except that buses started in a delayed manner. As most of the drivers and conductors do not have personal transport, the buses were started late, he said.
The official said that despite more than 1,000 buses operating on the roads, most buses had very few commuters.
