Bengaluru, 5 Aug

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday came down heavily on the transport strike despite its interim order and warned of contempt proceedings, after which the KSRTC Staff and Workers’ Federation announced suspension of the agitation till 7 August, when the matter will be heard next.

Passengers were left in the lurch with most busses not functioning.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Joshi expressed strong displeasure over the strike being carried out despite the invocation of the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) and the court’s direction not to proceed with the agitation.

The court extended its earlier interim order restraining the strike by two more days and directed the unions to submit an affidavit on Wednesday confirming that the strike has been called off.

KSRTC Staff and Workers’ Federation president HV Anantha Subbarao told reporters in City that the agitation had been suspended till 7 August and employees had been instructed to return to work with immediate effect.

The court observed that if there are issues then they should be resolved through talks with the government. It also noted that resorting to a strike even after ESMA had been enforced was unlawful. The court also issued notices to the unions of all four State transport corporations.

Strikes cause major disruptions

The Tuesday strikes crippled public bus services across the State.

The unions had gone ahead with the strike despite a court stay, pressing demands including wage revision.

Bus stands in major cities like Bengaluru, Chikkamagaluru, Raichur, Chitradurga, Hubballi, Dharwad, Belagavi, Mangaluru, Mysuru, Tumakuru, Hassan, Madikeri, Shivamogga, and Kalaburagi saw heavy passenger rush, with thousands stranded and struggling to find alternate ways to reach their destinations.

The strike in numbers

In Belagavi district, at least 90 per cent of busses from Chikkodi and 70 per cent of busses from the Belagavi terminal did not offer any services, according to Belagavi Divisional Controller Rajesh Huddar.

A total 618 buses remained in their depot in Chikkodi district with 2,800 staff participating in the strike.

Busses from Maharashtra were allowed to enter into Belagavi district amid tight police security.

Maharashtra has operated few buses up to the Karnataka border and the last bus stands on Karnataka border.

The North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) was hit just as bad. Nearly 80 per cent of the buses from Bagalkot district remained off the road.

According to data released by NWKRTC Huballi division, only about 55.16 per cent of the scheduled busses Dharwad district operated.

Hubballi Rural Division was to operate 258 buses, but only 190 were run, while 68 services remained cancelled or delayed, marking a departure percentage of 73.64 per cent.