You cannot hold Bengaluru city to ransom: Citizens

Bengaluru: Thousands of commuters who arrived at different metro stations in the city were greeted with the shut doors on Friday morning as the simmering anger within the BMRCL staff against the Karnataka State Industrial Security Force (KSISF) manifested into a mega strike.

Metro operations, which were supposed to commence from 5 am, remained a non-starter due to the protest.

Sources in Metro said the tussle between the KSISF and a few Metro officials was a trigger and this resulted in thousands of people struggling to reach offices and other places during the peak hours.

The Metro train service resumed only around 11.45 am and 12 noon, after a gap of six hours, after the intervention of BMRCL Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola, MLA N.A. Haris and Additional Commissioner of Police (East) Hemant Nimbalkar.

As if preventing metro services was not enough, Namma Metro employees had even blocked Old Madras Road at Byappanahalli metro station demanding the release of arrested metro staff.

Upset by the inconvenience, the public questioned how can a section of metro employees hold the city to ransom, to settle their personal scores. They also said it was due to the ineptitude of senior BMRCL authorities. As they were aware of the tussle, they should have taken adequate measures to ensure that the public are not inconvenienced.

Choc-a-bloc traffic
Traffic flow went choc-a-bloc as the thousands of commuters had to take auto, cabs and personal transport to reach their destinations. Most places along the Metro corridor witnessed unusual traffic jams as the commuters had to take road transport. There was also unusual rush at BMTC buses.

The traffic police too had tough time clearing traffic snarls at various places. Many commuters reached late to their offices due to slow moving traffic.

What led to fight?
According to BMRCL sources, there was a tussle between their staff and KSISF personnel on Thursday, following which few staff members were arrested. It is said that KSISC staff behaved rudely with an employee, who was rushing to office to avoid being late. However, the security personnel insisted that he undergo security check and frisking. When the BMRCL staff evaded the security check, the security personnel assaulted him. The same has been captured in the CCTV. 

Metro workers give in only after ESMA threat, assurance of resolving issues 
Realising the inconvenience caused to the public with the flash strike, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah reportedly directed BMRCL Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola, Shanthinagar MLA N.A. Haris and Additional Commissioner of Police (East) Hemanth Nimbalkar to intervene and resolve the issue ASAP.

Mr Nimbalkar tried his best to resolve the issue and convince the workers to take back their protest and resume services, but they did not buckle. 

Neither did they pay heed to the pleas of Mr Haris, who assured them that all their issues would be resolved by next week after holding a meeting with all the stakeholders. Even the mediation of leaders of AITUC trade union, to which BMRCL Employees Union is affiliated, did not help.

But what worked in the end was the intervention of Mr Kharola, who told the protesters that issue would be peacefully the coming week and Mr Nimbalkar's threat of initiating action against them under Essential Services Maintenance Act.

Trade union blames BMRCL for clash
The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Bangalore District Council, has blamed the Metro management for the clash between the Metro staff and police on Thursday.

“The BMRCL management should take care of the security of the employees working at all its stations. The BMRCL management’s action of using police against their own employees is highly condemnable,” said Mr Hari Govind, general secretary, BMRCL Employees’ Union.   The state government should immediately intervene and sort out the issue between the employees and the management, he said. “The BMRCL management should look after its employees and ensure that the processes and protocols necessary for the operation are clearly communicated to the employees" he said.