Hundreds and thousands of commuters faced problems on Wednesday after the public bus services came to a grinding halt in both the States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh after the employees of State Road Transport Corporation went on an indefinite strike from Tuesday midnight.
The employees did not join the work after their demand for 43 per cent pay revision at par with the other Government employees of the States was rejected by the AP State Road Transport Corporation management. Efforts to avoid the strike continued till morning but the employees refused to budge.
While 9,370 buses were off the roads in Telangana, in Andhra Pradesh 10,576 buses did not ply hitting the daily commuters. Even a year after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, the State Road Transport Corporation continues to be a joint body and it will be formally divided on May 14.
In Hyderabad, the roads wore a relatively less crowded look with 3,500 buses remaining confined to the depot. The Imlibun Bus Station and Jubilee Bus Stand in Hyderabad and Secunderabad, from where the inter-district buses ply, were also silent in the absence of buses as thousands of commuters were stranded.