Metro strike postponed as court applies brake

The Karnataka High Court on Friday postponed till further hearing the strike called by BMRCL employees, clearing the path for Namma Metro services.

The BMRCL Employees Union had decided to launch an indefinite strike from Saturday, bringing to halt Namma Metro services.

The decision was made after the union accused the management of failing to resolve any of the issues raised in the meetings held over 30 days.

Following the intervention of the Karnataka High Court, the management and employees of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) had held nearly 10 rounds of meetings to resolve the issue.

Union president Suryanarayana Murthy said the court told both parties to settle the issues in 30 days but the management has not given any assurance even after the deadline expired.

"We have been hoping for a solution to some of the issues we have raised in our letter two months ago. We have decided to go on strike after exhausting all other options," he said.

The court, however, put the breaks on the union by asking leaders to wait until the further date of hearing.

To be prepared for any eventuality, the BMRCL management has been training about 120 contract employees to form an emergency response team (ERT).

Sources in BMRCL said the ERT will be able to run Metro services for a day but not more than that.