Hry Roadways staff stir hits commuters

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh/Panchkula, October 16

Commuters faced a lot of harassment as the number of buses plying from the Chandigarh and Panchkula bus terminals was reduced to half in view of the strike call given by the Haryana Roadways Workers’ Union in the state.

There was a security blanket at the bus terminals in Chandigarh and Panchkula. A large number of police personnel and sleuths of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) were deployed to thwart any untoward incident.

Suresh Kumar, a commuter and a resident of Chandigarh, said he had to go to Delhi, but he was unable to catch a bus for long. He had to attend the marriage of a relative in Delhi. When he enquired from officials, they were not able to give a specific reply as to when the bus would come.

Reema Devi, a resident of Kalka, said: “I came to the Civil Hospital here for treatment. I waited for the bus for over an hour at the Panchkula bus terminus, but to no avail. Long-route buses generally operate from the terminal, but today not even a single bus reached here”.

Anil Nagar, General Manager, Haryana Roadways, Chandigarh, said they had a fleet of 80 buses and 48 buses plied on different routes. Several buses had not returned. The reason behind the delay in the return would be known by tomorrow morning.

He said they had served notices to 10 employees who were instigating others to join the strike and action would be taken against them, if found guilty. They were requesting the employees to join their duty by tomorrow so that commuters do not face any problem.

Dr Bhanwarjit Singh, General Manager, Haryana Roadways, Panchkula, claimed that buses were running normally. Out of the fleet of 145 buses, around 80 buses were running on different routes. Long-route buses to cities in other states like Dehradun, Hisar, Rohtak, Delhi and other stations had left as usual in the morning.

He said they were trying their best to provide best services to the people and added that he was monitoring the situation round the clock.

Meanwhile, Haryana Roadways Coordination Committee members Raj Pal, Vijender Singh, Rajinder Bali, Pritam Singh and Sarwan Kumar Jhajjar claimed that the strike had been successful as only one per cent buses were plying throughout the state.

The members said they had come to know about the registration of cases against 23 employees and warned the government that they would be forced to turn the two-day strike into indefinite strike if their demands were not accepted.

They said the state government would be responsible for any untoward incident. There was a huge resentment among the employees against the government for giving permits to private bus operators in the state.