Bus services halted, commuters stranded

BENGALURU: THE state-wide bandh in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday affected the inter-state bus services from Karnataka.

The bandh was called by the Andhra opposition parties demanding that the Centre grant special category status to the state.

Many commuters bound for Andhra Pradesh were stranded in the city after KSRTC stopped services fearing untoward incidents. Many stranded passengers were forced to depend on trains which created chaos at the City Railway station.  

Many who were stranded did not know about the bandh. “I had booked a bus ticket to Hyderabad a few weeks ago to attend a conference. I came to know about the bandh only yesterday (Monday) and was forced to travel in a general compartment of a train as there are no tickets available,” said V Srinivasan, a commuter at the City Railway station.

Sources say most private operators also stopped operations to Andhra Pradesh due to possible bandh-related violence.   Every day, an average of 302 KSRTC buses ply to Andhra Pradesh.