A large number of students staged a rasta roko on the Hassan-Bengaluru National Highway, here, on Thursday.
The students were demanding a stoppage of City buses at the Hemagangotri Post Graduate Study Centre. Due to the rasta roko, traffic came to a grinding halt for more than an hour on the stretch.
The students, who began the protest at 10.45 am, initially stopped only KSRTC express bus services.
They allowed private vehicles, lorries, Airavatha and Rajahamsa buses to ply. Irked over this, a few bus passengers picked up a quarrel with the students.
“If you want to press for your demands, stage a protest near the KSRTC bus stand or the deputy commissioner’s office. Why are you troubling us?,” they questioned.
They also staged a counter-protest, halting other vehicles, thereby worsening the situation. With this, hundreds of vehicles were stranded on both sides of the road.
Sharing their grievances, the protesters expressed that more than 800 students pursued their education at the Hemagangotri. Only a few boys stayed the in hostels, while, there were no hostel facilities for girl students.
Most of the students hail from distant places and are totally dependent on buses. If they catch a bus at 5.30 pm they reached home by 7 pm. But, KSRTC buses operating on the route do not have a stop here and the students have to walk a distance to catch the bus. Their several petitions to the authorities concerned have failed to yield any results, and thus, they were forced to stage a protest, they complained.
After an hour, Circle Inspector Shivakumar and KSRTC Depot Assistant Manager Sunitha visited the spot and pacified the students.
When the officials informed that blocking traffic was an offence and that they might be arrested, the students relented. Sunitha also announced that all shuttle bus services have been directed to stop at Hemagangotri.
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