THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Private buses kept off the road across the state on Thursday causing inconvenience to the public, especially in the northern districts where the KSRTC has comparatively fewer services. The private bus operators are on indefinite strike demanding a fare hike.
In Thiruvananthapuram city, private buses operated services as per the schedule. They decided to stay away from the strike as the KSRTC has a near monopoly in bus permits in the city. Transport Minister Antony Raju said the strike was unnecessary as the government had already assured them of fare hike.
The minister had earlier hinted that a government decision regarding the fare hike will be announced after the LDF meet on March 30. However, the bus owners decided to go ahead with the strike. A representative of the Kerala State Private Bus Operators Federation -- the umbrella organisation of bus operators in the state -- said the strike will continue despite pressure from various quarters to withdraw it.
The KSRTC operated 200 additional services on Thursday to minimise the impact of the strike. It operated 23 special services in central zone, 15 in north and nine in south zones on the routes operated by private buses.
However, there were complaints from northern districts regarding the inadequacy of KSRTC buses to meet the demand. Despite instructions from KSRTC management to use all road-worthy buses for the additional services, several units struggled to find enough man power to operate these services. KSRTC operated 3,804 services on Thursday.