Commuters travelling in city buses in Old City were stranded till late in the evening on Thursday after RTC Falaknuma depot employees boycotted their duties and staged a demonstration protesting suspension of an employee.
Employees also called for one-day bandh across all depots and suspension of services on Friday. Mild tension prevailed at Falaknuma depot for some time in the afternoon, when employees staged a demonstration and stopped buses from hitting the roads.
Later, police took few protesters into preventive custody. However, with employees staging protest, services of about 75 buses were hit and commuters were stranded at different bus stages in Old city.
Authorities said that a bus conductor, Devendran, was placed under suspension for forging the signature of the Depot Manager and another employee. Employees, in turn, argued that Devendran was not involved any such activities.
He was helping an employee who had requested him to pass on the leave information to depot authorities.
It is regular practice in Corporation, when an employee wants to avail leave during emergency, he or she requests other employees to pass on the leave information to higher authorities, said TNMU Divisional president Abdul Samad.
“We protest the suspension of Devendran and would ensure that all city buses would remain confined to respective bus depots,” said Mr. Samad. Even as commuters were put to lot of inconvenience due to the incident, authorities claimed that alternate arrangements were made immediately.
Buses from other depots were also pressed into service to avoid any inconvenience to commuters.
This apart, while one employees’ union was participating in the demonstration, the other union members attended their duties, said Greater Hyderabad zone Executive Director A. Koteswara Rao.
–Agencies