BMTC services hit as staff strike work from Sunday afternoon

 Bus services were severely affected from Sunday afternoon itself thought the state transport corporation employees had given a call for an indefinite strike from Sunday midnight.

Services were stopped late afternoon itself. Passengers who relied on the government run bus service had a tough time in reaching their destinations on Sunday as only a few buses were on road. Towards late in the evening, private buses were allowed to pick passengers from near BMTC bus stations.

Hundreds of passengers were left in the lurch as buses halted at several terminals across the city. Purva, a regular commuter between M G Road and Koramangala told Deccan Herald that she had to wait for nearly one hour to get a bus to MG Road.

According to officials in the BMTC, some of the drivers did not turn up for duty especially for the second shift (afternoon shift). “This affected the services,” the official added. Officials said that they had tried to contact drivers who did not turn up for duty, but in vain.

Nabhiraj Jain, Chairman, BMTC said that the drivers take buses to their destination in many depots.

Sources said the routes starting from depot numbers 39 (Hoskote), 38 (Chinkkanagamangala), 32 (Surya City), 21 (Rajarajeshwarinagar), 19 (Electronic City) had joined the strike from the Sunday afternoon itself. He also said that a few drivers who came to duty in the morning refused to continue the duty post lunch session.

Ekroop Caur, Managing Director, BMTC said buses gradually remained off road at evening. “We will contemplating on taking action against absentee drivers.”