CHENNAI: Thousands of commuters were stranded in the city on Friday evening as crew members belonging to the transport corporation unions affiliated with the opposition parties announced a flash strike. Stones were pelted on buses, windshields were broken and passengers were forced to disembark in the middle of the road. This came in the aftermath of “failed negotiations” with the State which once again postponed the discussion, to December 28.
A total of 11 transport unions began a two-day sit-in agitation Thursday demanding immediate release of their pending dues worth nearly Rs.7,500 crores. Officials from the transport department met union representatives on Friday evening and assured that they would hold a “detailed discussion” on Dec 28 and the leaders of the unions agreed. But this riled the agitated workers more and they began shouting in rage and started to protest.
“At around 3 pm, Pallavan Salai was blocked and later the workers started pelting stones on all the buses that were plying on Mount Road towards Chennai Central”, said one of the passengers stranded at Pallavan House. This led to traffic jams near Simpsons on Anna Salai and Chennai Central, which later led to serpentine vehicle queues on the entire stretch of Mount Road.
“Later in the day, fearing violence, most of the bus drivers fled the scene, leaving behind buses parked on the roads. Motorists wading through Porur, Poonamallee and Kundrathur were worst affected as the parked vehicles added to the resident’s woes on narrow roads”, said K. Anbazhagan, a resident of Ayyappanthangal.
A few passengers rued that they were forced to get down from the buses. One of them, C.Naresh, said, “At around 3.30, our bus heading to Chennai Central was stopped near LIC for over an hour. The commuters were stranded in the middle of the road and had to opt for alternative modes of transport”. Also, for most part of the day, MTC operated “cut buses” which only ply half the way to the prescribed destinations. Sources said the drivers avoided going towards Mount Road anticipating violence and the buses going that way were stopped midway.
