KOCHI: Friday, the first day of the indefinite statewide strike launched by private bus operators, passed off without disrupting normal life in the city. Though all private buses stayed off the city roads, KSRTC came to the commuters' rescue by operating additional services in the district. People also utilised train and Metro services to reach their destinations. Information sourced from KSRTC said it deployed 113 additional buses here to help the public.
“The private bus strike did not affect people living along the city belt as there were other services such as the Kochi Metro, online taxis and autorickshaws at commuters' disposal. In fact, I felt like it was a normal day,” said Anoop P, a youngster working with a private firm at Kakkanad.
The Kochi Metro and trains witnessed heavy rush in the morning and the evening as most people used the services to reach their destinations. The KSRTC bus stand was flooded with passengers in the evening.
Chellanam, other areas partially hit
Suburban and rural areas in the district like Chellanam, Puthenkurishu and others were partially affected by the private bus strike as a limited number of KSRTC buses plied in the areas.The district administration and other government offices in the district functioned like normal, as the strike failed to have any affect on them or their staff. “Over 80 offices that are functioning at the civil station opened in the morning itself. In comparison to other days, the number of visitors to the district administration offices was higher. It did not feel like there was any strike,” said an officer with the civil station.
Commuters enjoy congestion-free roads
The indefinite strike did affect commuters in the city on Friday, but in a good way. Many commuters, who had been fed up with the traffic snarls in the city, said they hardly faced any difficulty in reaching their destinations using their own vehicles on Friday, as the roads were mostly devoid of any congestion."An interesting thing I noticed was despite the large number of vehicles on the road, there was hardly any traffic congestion. Due to their reckless and haphazard driving in the city, private buses are the ones which are always causing traffic jam,” said Prathapan, a Kochi resident.
34,386 people ride on the Metro
As per the figures provided by the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd, as many as 34,386 people used the Metro to reach their destinations on Friday. The total revenue earned by the Metro on the day stood at Rs 10.6 lakh.