Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has announced free travel for women in ordinary buses of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation Chennai (MTC) but a section of commuters complain that the transport utility has been running only deluxe and express buses on some “good collection” routes.
Several women who commute long distances every day were delighted when the State government announced free ride on buses. However, when the MTC resumed services after the lockdown, they found that ordinary bus services had been stopped on several routes.
R. Padmavathi of Kelambakkam, who works at a private hospital in Perungudi, said route no. 570 (Kelambakkam to Koyambedu) is the only bus service available for residents and all the services are either deluxe or express. She rued that for a few days till the lockdown for the second wave of COVID-19 was announced, the MTC operated ordinary services. However, these have been stopped. She has been forced to buy the ₹1,000 monthly pass.
Similarly, commuters complained about non-operation of ordinary buses on routes 65C (Ambattur Industrial Estate to Pakkam), F70 (Guindy to Pattabiram), 77A (Vappampetu to Koyambedu), 21G (Tambaram to Broadway), 5A (Tambaram to T. Nagar), V51 (Tambaram to T. Nagar) and D70 (Velachery to Ambattur Industrial Estate).
Consumer activist T. Sadagopan said while Transport Minister R.S. Rajakannappan had claimed that more than 1,250 buses were operated as ordinary services, commuters were yet to see them on all routes. More so on routes that catered largely to working class bound to factories and daily jobs, he added.
