CHENNAI: Hundreds of passengers were left stranded at the Sriperumbudur bus terminus on Wednesday night after government buses operating between Sriperumbudur and Tiruvallur failed to arrive for more than two and a half hours. Angry passengers later blocked a government bus that arrived at the terminus and staged a protest.
A large number of people from Tiruvallur, including school and college students, travel to Sriperumbudur and surrounding areas every day, and are dependent on buses operating on this route. The buses usually arrive at intervals of around 30 minutes during the evening and night.
On Wednesday, however, no buses arrived at the Sriperumbudur bus terminus between 5.30 pm and 8 pm. By the time a government bus operating between Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur finally arrived at around 8.15 pm, hundreds of passengers had gathered at the terminus, leading to a hassle in boarding the bus.
Angry over this, some passengers suggested that nobody should board the bus and demanded that it be detained until transport officials arrived and explained why buses had not operated for more than two hours. The protest caused severe traffic congestion on the Chengalpattu-Sriperumbudur road, with vehicles stranded in long queues.
Soon, Sriperumbudur police and transport officials rushed to the spot and held talks with the protesters. The furious passengers questioned the officials and expressed frustration over being unable to return home after completing their work.
Transport officials explained that traffic had been affected due to a quarrel between motorists after vehicles brushed against each other on the Chengalpattu-Sriperumbudur road. They admitted that buses scheduled to operate on the route were following one another, and assured the passengers that such incidents would not recur. They appealed to the protesters to disperse and board the buses arriving subsequently.
However, passengers claimed that such disruptions occurred frequently and that officials offered similar explanations every time. They demanded the introduction of short-distance bus services between Sriperumbudur and Tiruvallur to ensure uninterrupted transport.
As the protest continued, police forcibly dispersed the passengers, recovered the blocked government bus, and allowed it to proceed after passengers boarded. In the meantime, passengers were accommodated in buses that arrived one after another.
The protest disrupted traffic on the Chengalpattu-Sriperumbudur-Tiruvallur road for more than an hour, leaving commuters and motorists stranded.