Post-Deepavali, TNSTC Fails Bus Passengers in Nilgiris
Passengers in Ooty and Coonoor faced long waits at bus stands as TNSTC operated limited services after Deepavali, despite a heavy rush towards the plains.
The failure of TNSTC, the lone public bus service provider in the Nilgiris, to plan in advance to run sufficient buses to manage the Deepavali rush saw passengers suffer and wait for a longer time in bus stands in Ooty and Coonoor to travel to Coimbatore and other parts of the plains.
Generally, post-Deepavali, there will be a huge rush of passengers to move from the hills to the plains. This year was no exception.
On Monday and Tuesday, the central bus stand here saw huge turnout of passengers hoping to catch buses in time to travel down to Coimbatore as now it takes additional travel time as the buses ply via the Kotagiri road to reach Mettupalayam and Coimbatore after the landslide on the regular Coonoor route.
However, much to their disappointment, only a few buses were being operated by TNSTC in the Nilgiris which made the passengers, including the elderly, women
and children, wait for hours together at the bus stands at Ooty and Coonoor.
S. Manogaran, president of the Coonoor Consumer Protection Association, charged that the TNSTC-Nilgiris failed to plan in advance to run special buses post-Deepavali that added to the agony of passengers.
The diversion of some buses towards the Chennai side also added to the woes.
The transport ministry should pull up the TNSTC-Nilgiris for its failure to gauge the post-Deepavali rush, causing unwanted agony and hardship to the passengers, he demanded.