Chennai: Despite Madras high court’s order to get back to work immediately and warnings by the state transport department, the transport workers’ unions continued their indefinite agitation on Monday, thereby crippling public transport for the fifth consecutive day.
According to DMK-affiliated Labour Progressive Front (LPF), 70 per cent of the 22,000 buses in the state and nearly 35 per cent of the 3,200 buses in the city were operational on Monday despite roping in 4,578 drivers and 3,496 conductors on a temporary basis.
Unlike Sunday, thousands of commuters were stranded at bus depots with buses plying at a frequency of 20 to 30 minutes to ferry office-goers and students. Koyambedu, T.Nagar, Saidapet, Broadway and Tondiarpet among other bus depots saw heavy footfall.
“The transport department should have sought a solution by now as most of the metros and suburban stations are crowded and they do not cater to all the areas. We are forced to depend on auto-drivers bent on making a quick buck,” rued S. Shanmugam at the Tambaram bus terminus.
Though private buses are plying across the city, most Chennaiites are hesitating to commute in buses owing to safety concerns.
Meanwhile, trade union leader, A Soundarrajan (CITU), agitated with the transport minister’s refusal for further negotiations said the employees along with their families would carry demonstrations in front of all the zonal offices across the State on Tuesday at 3 pm. Also, he rued about the government not showing enough patience and playing with the lives of the workforce.
On the other hand, the transport department issued a notice on Monday warning the striking employees of the state transport corporations of stern action if they fail to return to work immediately.
