Kerala - Kochi   

Private bus strike affects normal life

Kochi Bureau

COMMUTERS' PLIGHT: A scene from Vyttila on Monday, the first day of the indefinite strike by private bus operators in the State. - Photo: H. Vibhu

KOCHI: The indefinite strike by private bus operators and lorry owners affected normal life in the city on Monday.

Regular commuters of city buses were at the receiving end in the face of lack of adequate transportation facilities. Office-goers and students resorted to whatever form of transportation that were available to reach their destinations. Schoolchildren were the most affected section since most of them were not able to make it to their schools on time.

The city traffic, which usually chokes on the narrow roads, with private buses, cars and two-wheelers jostling for space, looked even more choked with most of the people, who owned a vehicle, taking them out on the road. All those who took a ride in the private vehicles running trips also had a harried time.

By 11 a.m., heavy traffic congestion was felt between Palarivattom and Kacheripady even without the private buses. The traffic inched along as the number of private vehicles brought on the roads increased in the absence of the public transport.

Even though private vehicles were operating several trips, transporting people between the city's main centres, this could not mitigate the hardships of the public who strove to reach their work places or other destinations. These vehicles were mostly charging exorbitant amounts as `fares.' The alternatives provided by the KSRTC could hardly make any impact in the city.

Enquiries at the KSRTC Bus Station revealed that there were about 15 additional services that were included in the day's schedule. These buses were taken from the routes where there were more vehicles. Hence a few buses running on the Ernakulam-Kottayam and Ernakulam-Muvattupuzha routes were rescheduled for city service. There were three buses to Kakkanad and also additional trips for Panangad, Fort Kochi, Poothotta, Piravom, Vaikom and other places. These trips were organised as and when the rush to a destination increased.

Ready for talks

The strike was total, said Khalid Mundapilly, president of the Kerala Private Bus Owners' Federation. "No discussions were held today. A Cabinet meeting on Tuesday is likely to bring out an Ordinance to overcome the order for fixing speed governors. We are ready for talks if we are invited," he said.

The Government Order on October 23 regarding the issuing of fitness certificate to only those vehicles which have fixed a speed governor was untimely and going back on the promise, said Mr. Mundapilly.

There were 33,000 private buses and about two lakh lorries running in the State. If the issuing of fitness certificate was clubbed with fixing speed governors, there was bound to be a lot of difficulty, he added.

Fixing speed governors was rather impractical, said Jacob Mathew, secretary of the District Lorry Owners Association. The fact that such an order had come up only in this State was yet another flaw in the administration. There was no bar on lorries and buses registered in the neighbouring States coming into the State without speed governors, Mr. Mathew said.

Let the vehicle be manufactured with such a speed governor, Mr. Mathew said. That would be more practical than fitting something that would cost something between Rs.15,000 and Rs.20,000.

On the request of the District Collector, the Kerala State Inland Navigation Corporation on Monday ran an additional fibre boat in the Ernakulam-Fort Kochi sector. The State Waterways Transport Department ran three additional services to ease the peak time rush.

The meagre services ran by the KSRTC and the Waterways could not be effective in giving people any respite in their day's ordeal.

Long queues were seen at fuel stations, with vehicle owners fearing that the tanker lorry stir would affect the availability of petrol and diesel. The strike has added to the woes of people already affected by the shortage of LPG cylinders.

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