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Passengers bear the brunt of suspended bus services
As the Punjab Roadways and PRTC employees’ union went on a strike to extend their support to the farmers and trade unions, passengers at city’s Amar Shaheed Sukhdev
As the Punjab Roadways and PRTC employees’ union went on a strike to extend their support to the farmers and trade unions, passengers at city’s Amar Shaheed Sukhdev Interstate Bus Terminal were left a harried lot on Thursday.
While the bus stand wore a deserted look as it was closed by the protesting union members, chaos prevailed outside the ISBT from where private bus operators picked passengers.
As per officials, at least 1,200 interstate and inter-district buses depart from the Ludhiana bus stand on a daily basis, of which more than 700 belong to PRTC and Punjab Roadways. Only eight PRTC and roadways buses departed from the stand on Thursday before the protest started at 9am.
Many private bus operators also suspended the services due to low footfall in comparison to normal days as many people were aware of the strike by the roadways employees.
A resident of Sirhind, Sunita, who had come to meet her relatives in Ludhiana on Wednesday, was stuck at the bus stand with her son as she could not find any bus for her journey back home.
“We were not aware of the strike and reached the bus stand around noon. The staff here told us about the strike and asked us to board a private bus from outside. It has been two hours, but we have yet to find any bus for Sirhind. A private operator asked us to wait for another half an hour at the stand and here we are,” she added.
A labourer from Pathankot, Harinder, said, “On our way to Bihar, I, along with my two brothers, reached here last evening and thought that we will get a bus in the morning. However, the union announced a strike. Private buses are also not available. We have been told that the bus services will start from Friday morning, so we are stuck at the bus stand.”
ISBT supervisor Jasvir Singh Sahota said, “Only eight buses could depart from the bus stand on Thursday due to the strike. The roadways suffered a loss of around ₹8 lakh due to the strike. But the situation will return to normal Friday onwards.”
Meanwhile, union members said the strike was part of the statewide protest in support of farmers and trade unions. District president of Punbus Contractual Employees’ Union, Shamsher Singh, said, “Apart from the strike which was observed on Thursday, the union will also launch an agitation against the private transport mafia on December 2 at the bus stand. A protest march will be held against the state government, transport mafia and corrupt officials of transport department.”
Bikers extend support to farmers in Mandi Ahmedgarh
A group of 20 Ludhiana-based bikers also extended support to the protesting farmers by participating in their protest at Lehra toll Plaza in Mandi Ahmedgarh.
One of the bikers, Sukhkaran Gill, said, “Our aim was to apprise the farmers that urban population of the state is standing by their side in this agitation.”
