Passengers face tough time as Punjab buses go off road

Hundreds of passengers were stranded at bus stops in the Tricity as drivers and conductors of PUNBUS, Punjab Roadways and the PRTC struck work across Punjab to press for their demands. The staff, under the banner of the Punjab Roadways, Punbus and PRTC Contract Workers Union (Punjab), had announced a strike from 12 noon onwards, but passengers kept waiting for buses for hours since early morning as service remained erratic. Hundreds of passengers were seen stranded at the ISBT-43 and Mohali bus stand as employees staged a protest.

Varun Mahajan, a resident of Ropar, was stranded at the ISBT-43. He said, “I finished my work at Panjab University around 3 pm and reached the bus stand at 4 pm, but there was no Punjab Roadways bus to ferry passengers. At 7 pm, I boarded a Haryana Roadways bus. It was a harrowing experience.”

Although the employees called off their strike in the evening following talks with Transport Secretary Varun Roojam, there was no relief for passengers who waited for more than three hours at the ISBT-43.

At Mohali and Zirakpur, passengers had a tough time waiting for long-route buses in the scorching heat.

Vinni Thareja of Patiala said, “The bus service to Patiala was completely off the road. Passengers were forced to hire autos till Rajpura to reach home.”

The staff struck work in protest against the decision of bringing private operators into the public transport sector and non-filling of vacant posts. They demanded regularisation of contractual workers’ services, implementation of “equal pay, equal work” norm, reinstatement of dismissed employees and withdrawal of cases registered during the previous protests.