Whether it was a 10-member Gujarati tourist group or three students who came to the city for the IG CSE exam at Global School, it was ‘City Express’ that helped them reach their destinations without much hassles on the hartal day when most public transport vehicles kept off roads.
The ‘Say No To Hartal (SNTH)’, a group of anti-hartal campaigners, says that a number of people called them on Monday, after reading a story that appeared on ‘City Express’ informing them about helpline number of SNTH. The SNTH actively attended calls, thus helping over 100 passengers reach their destinations without getting stranded. The 32 volunteers of the organisation were at the service of many commuters.
The group also organised a public protest against hartal by taking out a vehicle march from Kadavantra at 10 am on Monday. The march proceeded from Thevara to Kaloor and ended at South Railway station.
“Three students who attended IG CSE exam at the Global School here were clueless about finding their way home. It was then they saw the news in ‘City Express’ and called us. We fetched vehicles to transport them to their house at Kaloor and Pachalam. The 10-member Gujarati tourists who were on a Kerala visit called us after reading the news item. They wanted to go to South Railway Station,” Reju said.
The number of people who boarded down at the South Railway Station also looked up at the organisation for help. “We transported people from South Railway Station to all major parts of the city, including Palluruthy, Kakkanad and Fort Kochi. It was sad to see women, who was very tired after undergoing treatment at Regional Cancer Centre, Thirivananthapuram, getting stranded in the station. We could help them too,” said Reju.