Hyderabad: Transport operators supporting the nationwide trade union strike called against changes in labour laws and privatisation of PSUs threw normal life out of gear on Wednesday.
Commuters were seen travelling on the footboards of MMTS trains as less than 1 per cent of RTC buses operated. The TSRTC has pegged Wednesday’s losses at Rs 8 crore in Telangana while APSRTC has pegged it at Rs 7 crore. The TSRTC and APSRTC saw only 1 to 2 per cent of the services across the two states due to the entire workforce joining the strike.
In Hyderabad, some bus depots like JBS and MGBS became temporary cricket grounds for RTC employees who were on strike.
Autorickshaws, lorries, taxis and cab companies also joined the strike. Even bank services were hit during the daylong strike. Several schools had to remain closed as the school van operators supported the strike. Majority of the autorickshaws also remained off the roads, while others overcharged customers. According to All India Bank Employees Association secretary B.S. Rambabu, as many as 52,000 bank employees in TS and AP participated in the strike.
Cabs struggle to meet demand
Wednesday’s strike took a toll on college students, children going for tuitions and also office goers who had to opt for share cabs and call cabs or ask friends and colleagues for lifts.
Ms Sita Raman, an executive with an insurance company, said, “I travel by public transport and since 8 in the morning, I had been trying to book cabs. But there ware no cabs available. Finally, I called a colleague and reached my place of work.” Call cab companies did not have any taxis to spare till mid afternoon.
Share cabs from IT companies are most sought as they are a cheap option to travel to work. But in the peak hours of Wednesday, the minimum fare had increased from Rs 15 per person to Rs 30. The share cabs normally charge Rs 50 from Secunderabad to Hitec City but on Wednesday, they were charging Rs 100 per person.
Mr Anup Khanna, who drove from Secunderabad to Gachibowli, spent three and a half hours on the road. He said, “There was a lot of traffic and chaos on the roads as people were forced to take out their two-wheelers and reach work.”
The traffic snarls in the morning led to more delays as many people complained of reaching work late.
