Public transport across Kalyana Karnataka continued to be disrupted on Saturday as the ongoing strike by the employees working in four State-owned transport corporations – Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), North West Karnataka Transport Corporation (NWKRTC), North-East Karnataka Transport Corporation (NEKRTC) and Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) entered the second day.
Thousands of government buses remained inside bus stands and depots as no driver and conductor turned up for the duty. The passengers, who, unaware of the strike, arrived at the stands were found desperately waiting for the resumption of services. Nonetheless, the passenger crowd was relatively less on Saturday as compared to the previous day.
As per the information provided by NEKRTC authorities, operations in Bidar, Kalaburagi, Vijayapura, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal and Ballari districts incurred a loss of ₹4.14 crore on Saturday alone as most of the 19,000 workforce went on strike parking over 3,800 buses inside the depots and stands.
“On Friday, the corporation had suffered ₹1.5 crore as buses on around 410 routes operated despite the strike. Most of the services were suspended today as more employees joined the strike. Only a few buses for Maharashtra operated today,” an officer said.
The agitating employees appeared more firm in their demands on the second day. The bus stands across towns and cities in seven northeastern districts saw demonstrations by the employees.
“We are firm on our demands. We should be considered as State government employees in the first place and be extended all the benefits entitled to government employees. We would not step back till a concrete assurance is given by the government,” an agitating employee told The Hindu. Taking advantage of the situation, private transport operators continued to exploit the passengers by over-charging. Private taxi operators demanding exorbitant charges from passengers for even shorter distances and passengers arguing with operators was reported from Ballari, Bidar and Koppal districts.
In certain places along the State border in Ballari and Raichur, the buses operated by Andhra Pradesh and Telangana functioned as usual. People were found thronging to inter-State bus services.
Buses damaged
As many as three buses belonging to NEKRTC were damaged in Ballari. It was not known who damaged them.
As per preliminary information, some miscreants pelted stones at a bus that was coming in from Hosapet and heading towards Ballari late on Friday. On Friday, two more buses were damaged in the stone-pelting in the district.
