ST Buses freeze wheels due to stir in North Gujarat

The call for bandh given by Karni Sena and Rajput community in Gujarat on Thursday gave a major jolt to Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation(GSTRC) bus service, especially in North Gujarat region. Not a single bus plied on the road in North Gujarat and, almost, 300 major routes remained cancelled in the region.

According to an official in the GSRTC said, "We had taken precautionary actions to avoid damage to properties of the corporation, as it was possible that the miscreant would target the buses first. This would cause the harm to passengers also and that is why the buses in North Gujarat did not operate. Of course, people would have suffered a lot due to this decision but there was no any option too."

The depots of Gandhinagar, Mehsana, Himmatnagar, Palanpur, Patan and Modasa were total non-operational and for the safe side, the buses were kept in depot under the tight police security. The private transportation in the region also was disturbed and people could not travel due to the same.

The ST buses were cancelled on 70 other routes in regions besides North Gujarat too. This includes Surendranagar, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Vadodara, Surat and other districts. The private buses running between different cities also remained stopped and transportation system in Gujarat remained almost paralysed.

At many of the places, the protesters blocked the roads to stop the common transportation of private vehicles too, however, the local police succeeded to control the situation after the struggle with the local protesters. The GSRTC will take a decision to resume the bus service on Friday only after reviewing the condition, the official added.