Chennai: Strike enters day seven, Pongal plans in jeopardy

SETC stops booking of tickets on long-distance buses; 70,000 booked passengers face uncertainty
Chennai Beach as three services of MRTS were delayed after overhead electrical line snapped on Wednesday | ashwin prasath
Chennai Beach as three services of MRTS were delayed after overhead electrical line snapped on Wednesday | ashwin prasath

CHENNAI: The transport workers strike in Tamil Nadu has put Pongal plans of thousands of commuters in Tamil Nadu  in jeopardy as the State Express Transport Corporation, which operates long distance services has stopped booking of tickets from Monday. This apart, about 70,000 passengers who had booked their tickets in SETC for travelling to their home towns, are also in a mess over uncertainty of TNSTC and SETC bus operations.

On Tuesday, many passengers who visited CMBT and Tambaram terminus for booking tickets for SETC special buses, which were earlier scheduled to be operated from Thursday, could not book their tickets. “I could not book the ticket in SETC website since Monday, so I went to CMBT to book the tickets at special counters. There, I was told by officials that I cannot reserve tickets as they are not sure of operating buses,” said Swapna Namachivayam, a native of Madurai, who lives in Chennai.

Commuters risk lives as they board packed suburban trains. Thousands of passengers were stranded at Park Town
Commuters risk lives as they board packed suburban trains. Thousands of passengers were stranded at Park Town

Similarly, passengers at Tambaram terminus were also denied ticket bookings for SETC buses. It is learnt that apart from special buses, SETC had also stopped ticket booking for regular buses.
Even as transport workers are striking for six days now, the State government claimed that about 70 per cent of SETC buses were operated regularly. However, passengers who booked their tickets four months ago to travel in regular buses are worried over the operation of the buses.

Particularly, many daily wage workers and poor people hailing from southern parts of Tamil Nadu and central districts who migrated to Chennai, prefer SETC during festivals as they cannot afford to pay higher fares in private buses.

Shanmugavel of Vadapalani, a daily wage worker at Ambattur estate, who booked tickets to Kovilpatti said that it costs just Rs 1200 for three persons on an SETC bus. “On January 13, private omni buses will charge up to Rs 900 a person to Tirunelveli and Kovilpatti,” he added. Official sources confirmed that about 70,000 passengers had already booked their tickets.

To facilitate other district passengers who reside in Chennai, transport department had a plans to operate about 5158 special buses in addition to regular 2275 buses between January 11 and 13. The 5158 special buses includes TNSTC buses and Ultra Deluxe and Super Deluxes services of SETC.

When contacted, officials of SETC told Express that it is not possible to operate special buses. “We expect that the strike would be called off before Pongal. Even if passengers had not booked, they can directly board the buses at four temporary bus stands at Anna Nagar(West), Saidapet, Tambaram Sanitorium (MEPZ) and Poonamallee.”

He added they are taking measures to ensure that all reserved passengers get the regular buses. MTC officials said the 5158 services will not be operated if the strike continues. “We are planning to carry all passengers from bus stops even if they don’t have SETC reservation tickets,” an officer said.

Notices issued as families join protest

The transport minister M R Vijayabhaskar said the transport department issued notices to about 60,000 workers seeking explanation within seven days. Thousands of family members of striking workers gathered at MTC headquarters to protest. MTC officials claimed 1752 buses out of a fleet strength of 3100 operated.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com