After two days of total disruption in the Telangana region, train services were restored on Sunday night on conclusion of the two-day ‘rail roko' called by the Telangana Joint Action Committee (T-JAC) which, however, said it would announce the future course of its agitation in a couple of days.
Several trains left Secunderabad and Hyderabad stations after the pro-Telangana activists vacated the railway tracks on which they were squatting since the ‘rail roko' began on Saturday morning. Describing ‘rail roko' as a huge success, T-JAC chairman Kodandaram said the future course of action would be chalked out shortly.
Train services, however, remained paralysed till evening as supporters of the TRS, BJP and other parties stayed put on the railway tracks where they bathed, cooked, ate and held ‘dhoom-dham' cultural programmes.
Even after the end of the ‘rail roko' there was no significant relief to the commuters since the buses of the A. P. State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) continued to remain off the roads for the seventh day running.
Efforts by the RTC management to persuade the staff to end their indefinite strike failed as leaders of the National Mazdoor Union, spearheading the agitation, refused to oblige. The only silver lining was that the autorickshaws began plying by late evening after being off the roads for two days. The auto drivers' unions had joined the strike on Friday midnight. |