CHENNAI: The first day of the two-day nationwide strike announced by the opposition parties against the Centre's anti-people policies, hit Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) commuters in Chennai, as 90 per cent of the bus operators participated in the strike.
Overall in the state, only 30 per cent of inter-district buses operated on Monday.
According to the MTC, only 318 out of the 3,175 MTC buses were on the road in the city while just 5,023 buses out of 15,335 bus services plied across the state, which is only one-third of MTC's normal service.
MTC bus drivers and conductors of Anna Thozhilalar Peravai affiliated to AIADMK and Labour Progressive Federation, affiliated to DMK, participated in the strike at several places.
With 90 per cent of MTC buses off the roads in Chennai city, the people were badly hit. It has been stated that only ten per cent of buses were operated from important bus depots like Thiruvanmiyur, Tambaram, Chrompet, Avadi, Ayanavaram, Perambur, Parry's and Besant Nagar.
No buses were operated from Guindy, Mandaveli, Foreshore estate bus depots.
Many passengers across the city who are travelling far distances for work hitchhiked to their destinations. Most of them took the help of motorcycle riders. Along the Old Mahabalipuram Road stretch, men stranded in front of the Adyar and Thiruvanmiyur bus depot stood near signals asking motorists if they could drop them off a little beyond.
People asking for lifts in the ongoing vehicles was a frequent scene around the city. “I come here to work from Madurai. I never thought I would need my two-wheeler here. Now I’m left with asking for a lift to reach my office” said Kumaran S, a software engineer in a private firm in Porur, who was stranded on the road in Guindy. Many college students had to ride three in a two-wheeler since there were no buses.
Auto-rickshaws had a hectic day with some plying as share autos. “I have been driving back and forth along the OMR stretch since morning. The rush and hustle subdued after 11 am. Instead of one passenger to a single location, I picked up three or four along the road” said J Manikandan, the auto driver, who was driving from the Adyar bus depot.
The roads were crowded with share autos that were charging Rs 10 to Rs 20 more than usual. “It was only during the peak morning hours when people did not have buses to commute, there was a huge rush that we had to stop people from hoarding the vehicle. It is back to normal after 10 am. We expect that the situation would change after 6 pm” says Richard Kumar K, a share auto driver riding from Guindy to Perungudi.
The strike of the unions was a jackpot for some private buses and tempo travellers who operated the vehicles on the normal MTC bus wage. The tourist buses stuck A4 sheets mentioning the MTC bus route number and carried passengers from the bus stands.
“My next driving schedule is by 8 pm and so now I am driving between Koyambedu and Alandur, pooling in people '' smiles the minivan driver of a private travels.
Online cab services like Ola and Uber charged more than the expected fare. However, the waiting time for the vehicle's arrival was also more than usual due to the demand. “I already had a stressful day with lack of buses and now the price of cab services is too much. Three of us who work in the same office, booked a cab and for the past 45 minutes the app has been searching for drivers,” lamented G Hanumandan, an employee at an accounting firm.
People who were stranded without buses opted to take sub-urban and MRTS services across the city. From 7 am to 9 am, there was a huge crowd in metro stations and railways stations as office goers boarded the already crowded compartments. "Metro stations were overcrowded with passengers standing in the long queue to get tickets," said J Kandhari, a private company employee who is a regular metro commuter.
Passengers who reached the city via overnight trains and buses from other districts found themselves stranded when they arrived at Central and Egmore railway stations and CMBT terminus.
"I had to walk to Egmore railway station under this hot scorching sun with my wife and two kids, to board a train to Tambaram," said K Srinivasan, a resident of Cowl Bazaar near Pallavaram who returned by train from Erode on Monday morning.
While several college and school children travel on footboards normally, on Monday, many had no other option than to hang on the footboards. The girls of the MGR Janaki college, in RA Puram, did not think a second time as they hopped into the bus that was already overflowing.
Meanwhile, others depended on their friends who have two-wheelers and some on private carbs. "I ended up paying Rs 200 to reach my house in Mylapore from Nungambakkam," said Kavitha R, an undergraduate of a private college.