Tackle offenders with iron hand: Urban Experts

Bengaluru: Civic experts slammed Namma Metro employees for going on a flash strike and putting the public into inconvenience on Friday morning.

Urban expert R.K. Misra said, “Metro is an essential public service, catering to the needs of lakhs of people every day. The strike seems to be not valid in any way. Take airports for example. Even the security staff have to undergo physical frisking and baggage screening. If that's the case, then why protest?"

He said that Friday's strike will set a bad trend. “Once workers feel that they can get things done by resorting to protests, there are more chances of them holding the city to ransom again. Such issues should be dealt with an iron hand and the guilty should be punished,” he said.

Mr Srinivas Alavilli, coordinator, Citizens of Bengaluru, said, “Authorities did not step in time to resolve the matter with a sense of urgency. A scuffle between few individuals cannot lead to such disruption of public transport system which is barely there in our city.”

Batting for a severe punishment of offenders, Mr Sridhar Pabbisetty, CEO, Namma Bengaluru Foundation, said, “It is unfortunate that a conflict between two teams of BMRCL resulted in inconveniencing lakhs of commuters relying on public transport." Essential services such as Metro should not be held to ransom and the entire altercation should be investigated immediately. Severe punishment should be given to offenders, he said.

Rs 20 lakh loss due to Friday’s disruption 
Friday's flash strike has caused a loss of around Rs 20 lakh to Namma Metro. Mr Vasanth Rao, General Manager (Finance, CPRO & Gardener), BMRCL, said, “Around 90,000 passengers travel on Namma Metro on single line. Services resumed after 11 am after the protest was called off. BMRCL has incurred a loss of around Rs 20 lakh because of the flash strike."

Lamenting that a simple misunderstanding which could have easily been resolved was blown out proportion, he said, “We are yet to know why it took this mammoth shape, affecting all services. An internal inquiry has been initiated to know what really happened."

Asked how the workers could pull off a protest of this magnitude, that too early in the morning, he defended the protesters saying they were not violent. “Metro staffers include lot of youngsters who are in the age group of 23-25 years. After the internal inquiry report, we will look into to the option of setting up counselling sessions for the young lot."

He said that next week, all issues will be resolved at a meeting which will be attended by all the stakeholders, including representatives from the state government and AITUC, to which the BMRCL Employees Union is affiliated.