JOIN USThe DTC employees called of their ‘indefinite’ strike on Tuesday evening after the Delhi government clamped Essential Services Maintenance Act.
Bus services in the city were disrupted across the city on the second day of the agitation that was sparked by death of a DTC bus driver in an incident of road rage.
Rohini Depot – III in northwest Delhi was worst hit as bus operations remained stalled till 3 pm, according to the Delhi Transport Corporation.
Lakhs of commuters suffered hardship due to the strike.The strike also affected DTC operations in the neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
The government invoked ESMA against the agitating staff to restore normalcy in bus services.
DTC spokesperson R S Minhas said, “The imposition of ESMA was conveyed through notice boards in all the units or depots of DTC. We also made announcements in the depots through public addressing system.”
Post the ESMA order, the DTC could roll out 3,459 buses in the morning shift. DTC said only 704 out of 4,705 buses had left the depot on Monday. Services affectedBus services from the Millennium Depot were also affected till 9.30 am. A few depots in rural areas also faced some disruption, according to a DTC employee.
“There was a heavy deployment of police in this morning. At least 5-6 policemen each were present on all the four gates,” the employee said, explaining how the police massed in strength to contain protesters.
The government action came after commuters in the city struggled to put up with severe bus shortage. The DTC employees had earlier called for an ‘indefinite’ strike after DTC bus driver Ashok Kumar, 42, was beaten to death in broad daylight allegedly by a motorcyclist in Mundka area of west Delhi.
Protestors were demanding a Rs 1 crore compensation to the victim’s family.