BMTC, KSRTC strike in Karnataka | Fusion - WeRIndia

A strike has been called for by unions in Karnataka. The unions demanded a 30-35 per cent revision of salaries instead of the 10 per cent that the State offered. The strike was announced several weeks ago. However, the problem did not stop. The government refused the demands of the unions and stuck to their original offer. The state government said that anything above 10 per cent is not possible. So, the Union leaders are continuing the strike. The strike is beginning to effect common population very much.

Many people in cities like Mysuru, Hassan, Belagavi, Mangaluru and Bengaluru are struggling to find alternative means of transport. Observing the desperation of people, private buses saw an opportunity to make fast money. They are charging up to Rs.100 extra than the price of KSRTC.

In order to counter the effect of the strike, several organizations were asked to fill the hole. Namma Metro saw a huge increase in passengers because of this. Usually there are about 600-700 passengers on opening at 6 a.m. It increased to 2,204 passengers between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. In the North line, there was an increase of about 800 people.

Help is also being offered by South-Western Railway (SWR). They announced that all mail and express trains would halt at Baiyappanahalli, Whitefield, Carmelaram, Channasandra stations in both directions in addition to trains from Bengaluru and Mysuru stopping at the Nayandahalli station.

The Bengaluru division of the SWR said that the Tippu Express will stop at Ramanagaram, Channapatna and Kengeri. They even announced a special train between Bengaluru and Tumakuru which leaves Tumkuru at 1:30 p.m,. halting at all stations.

All the four transport corporations saw a loss of around 9 lakh rupees till 9 a.m. The strike effected KSRTC most. 49 buses were damaged. 4 buses of the BMTC were damaged, while 12 and 27 buses of NWKRTC and the NEKRTC were damaged respectively.

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