COIMBATORE: Passengers were stranded for several hours in Kotagiri on Monday after public transport services came to a sudden halt due to a flash strike by TNSTC employees.
The agitation was triggered by the death of Kannan (47), a TNSTC driver from Edapalli village, who met with a fatal accident near Dharapuram in Tirupur while operating a bus to Madurai.
According to the protesting employees, Kannan had been subjected to excessive work pressure. They said he had operated an early morning service from Kotagiri to Mysuru around 5 a.m. and, due to heavy traffic congestion, returned to Ooty only around 9 p.m, a few days ago. He was immediately instructed to take up another duty of driving a bus to Coimbatore.
The workers further alleged that when Kannan expressed his inability to continue duty due to ill health and requested deployment of another driver, he was placed under suspension. Although the suspension order was later revoked, he was subsequently transferred from the Kotagiri depot to the Mettupalayam transport depot, a move they claimed caused him significant mental stress.
Following these developments, Kannan was involved in a fatal road accident while driving a bus near Dharapuram. In response, more than 100 employees of the Kotagiri transport depot gathered outside the premises early Monday morning and launched a flash strike, refusing to report for duty. They alleged that excessive workload, disciplinary action, and transfer-related stress contributed to the circumstances leading to the driver’s death.
The protesters demanded financial compensation for Kannan’s family, a compassionate appointment for a family member, and stronger safeguards for employee welfare and job security within the transport corporation.
Following talks by senior TNSTC officials, along with Coonoor MLA K. M. Raju assured action after an inquiry, the employees called off their protest around 10:30 a.m., nearly after five hours, and normal bus operations resumed. The sudden disruption caused severe inconvenience to passengers, many of whom were left waiting at bus stands for hours across the Kotagiri region.