Outside the Singanallur Bus Stand here are a number of commuters. Latching on to their bags, they glance from one end of the road to another as they wait looking for buses to take them home to vote in time.
K. Meena is one such commuter, who has been waiting since Wednesday night. “I along with 11 of my family reached here [Singanallur Bus Stand] to take us home in Karaikudi so that we can vote. After waiting for long and not finding buses many returned. I’m the only one who is still waiting,” says the woman, who works in a restaurant at Saibaba Colony.
There are many others like her who complain that they could not find buses to take them to Dindigul, Madurai, Kumbakonam, Tiruchi and other towns. A similar situation prevailed at the New Bus Stand on Mettupalayam Road as well.
D. Suresh Babu, who stays at Vadavalli working for a private company in Coimbatore, says he planned to go home to Theni to vote but it appears that he might not be able to cast his vote. “I've been waiting for half-an-hour but could not find a bus.”
P. Kalaivani, a resident of Dindigul, is desperate to go home but could not find a bus. “I waited from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Wednesday and have returned on Thursday to board a bus to my home town. It has been three hours.”
Many like her who are unskilled labourers say they cannot afford to pay the rates charged by private bus operators or cab operators as they are exorbitant.
Mr. Babu says: “I pay around ₹ 180 to reach Theni but operators here charge between ₹ 500 and ₹ 600.” Ms. Meena says that with the ₹ 700 in her hand, she cannot afford to pay ₹ 500 for a one-way fare.
Unable to find buses, commuters in Singanallur staged a protest for a brief while until the police personnel on duty pacified them. A similar stampede like situation prevailed last night at the same bus stand and police intervention saved the day.
A TNSTC official from the Kumbakonam depot at the Singanallur Bus Stand says the Corporation has 42 additional buses but is unable to meet the demand though. His counterpart from the Madurai depot says the reasons for inadequate buses are drivers going on leave, going to exercise their franchise and the Chithirai festival there.
A TNSTC official in Coimbatore says the delay in operating the buses is because of drivers and conductors exercising their franchise. A senior district administration official says they monitored vehicle movement on Wednesday and assure to look into complaints, if any.
A senior State Express Transport Corporation official said throughout the State they operated 859 buses in addition to the 2,950 from Chennai to various parts of the State only on Wednesday but still they were unable to meet the demand. This was an extraordinary situation perhaps because of the long holiday season.
The official said the commuters they served on Wednesday and Thursday were more than what they usually did during Deepavali and Pongal.