Chennai: With voices of solidarity rising in the city from various quarters in support of AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa, who was jailed last week, travellers in the state are bearing the brunt with various private transport services in the state cancelling their services in protest.
On Sunday, nearly 6,000 private buses in all districts except Chennai suspended services, and on Monday, 4,000 private mini buses across the state are to stop services between 8 am and 5 pm. These buses run in the state as stage carriages, like MTC services in Chennai. In Chennai, the Omni Bus Owners Association has called for a strike on Tuesday between 6 am and 6 pm.
But bus operator associations who called the bandh on Sunday say that it being a holiday season and corporation buses working, the public was not affected much. Mr P. Murugan, a resident of Gudiyattam, says, "We planned to go to Tirutanni from Gudiyattam through Vellore on Sunday. Normally, we have 150 private services towards Vellore, but on Sunday there was not one. Share autos were running, but they were doubling the charge and we had to depend on a cab."
Mr K. Thangaraj, president of the Federation of Bus Operators Association of Tamil Nadu, says, "It is holiday season and the traffic on the services is low, so not many people will be affected. We expect only 5 per cent of the commuters to be affected. And corporation buses in all districts are running, so commuters have not been affected much. We are doing this to show our support for Ms Jayalalithaa."
Mr D. Maran, treasurer of the Tamil Nadu Omni Bus Owners Association, which runs omnibuses from Chennai, says that 250 buss from the city would be cancelled on Tuesday between 6 am and 6 pm.
He adds, "Most of these cancelled services are bound for Karnataka while buses going towards Kerala and Andhra Pradesh ply in the night." On Friday, another private omnibus association from the city cancelled its day services between 9 am and 5 pm. But with most of the buses operating in the night, not many people were affected, added association members.
