Government buses pelted in Pollachi
On Monday, less than 50 per cent of buses plied in the Western districts, even as unidentified men hurled stones in a number of places.
By : migrator
Update: 2018-01-08 20:40 GMT
Chennai
On the first day of the week, students and office-goers, waiting anxiously for a bus, had to face the additional problem of stone pelting by miscreants, in several parts of Coimbatore district. In Pollachi alone, three buses were damaged. While two unidentified youth pelted stones at a bus near Pollachi, damaging the side glass panels, two bike-borne men hurled stones on a bus near the Srinivasapuram flyover, injuring the driver and a few passengers. The rear glass panes on another bus, heading to Pollachi from Sethumadai was damaged by a stone thrown at it by unidentified men.
Most buses continued to be operated as a point-to-point service, without a conductor. For instance, buses which started in Pollachi came to a halt only on reaching Coimbatore, leaving many passengers waiting for the bus en rout high and dry. Buses from Coimbatore to Palghat also ran without a conductor.
Commuters in Tiruppur, Salem and Namakkal also suffered due to lack of adequate buses.
Meanwhile protesting Transport staff in the Coimbatore region, comprising Coimbatore, Tirupur, Nilgiris and Erode districts was issued with nearly 12,000 notices seeking explanation for their absence from work.
The ongoing strike affected tourism as well. In the Nilgiris, tourist spots like the Botanical Gardens, Pykara lake and Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary wore a deserted look due to lack of tourists.
Untrained drivers keep service afloat
Tiruchy: Sand lorry drivers have hit pay dirt in Karur. Rendered idle after the ban on sand mining, many of them have been drafted in as temporary drivers. While efforts to keep the buses plying in Transport Minister MR Vijayabaskar may be a laudable move, the untrained drivers are nervous at the wheels. On Monday, a temporary driver pressed the accelerator instead of the brake, with the result that the bus ran out of control, hit two more buses parked inside. When onlookers raised an alarm, the driver hit the compound wall. Meanwhile, around 5,000 Transport employees who staged a demonstration across the districts were arrested en-masse.
Inexperience shows, accidents accelerate
Madurai: Accidents continued to occur in Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) buses driven by temporary drivers. Two of the buses were involved in accidents in Madurai, on Monday.
In the first incident, a TNSTC bus, driven by Daniel, an autorickshaw driver from Thirumangalam, rammed into an electricity post at Thirunagar near Madurai. Daniel drove the bus from Periyar bus stand to Thirunagar. He was scheduled to reach Thirunagar eighth stop, but as Daniel had no idea about the route. He entered a residential area at the sixth stop in Thirunagar. As a result, he had to drive the bus through some narrow lanes and rammed into the EB post. In the impact, the side of the bus was damaged; luckily none of the passengers sustained any injury. However, as a result of the accident, traffic was affected for more than one hour.
In another accident, a TNSTC bus, driven by a temporary driver from Tiruchirappalli reached Madurai and when it tried to overtake a private college bus near Mattuthavani bus stand, the TNSTC bus hit the back of the bus. Both vehicles suffered damages.
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