New Year fails to cheer up private bus operators

C Shivakumar

Chennai:

The hustle and bustle during the New Year eve at Omni bus terminal in Koyambedu was absent as private bus operators were struggling to fill the empty seats for buses plying to other parts of the state.

The floods in Chennai have washed away the festival spirit as there was hardly any maddening rush to celebrate the New Year by the migrant population at their native places. What is more, bus operators are fearing that there won’t be enough bookings during the festival of Pongal.

The buses are usually packed during the New Year eve and many bus operators like Praveen Travels used to ply special buses to clear the festival rush.

 “We used to ply 60 buses during the New Year eve. Now, we are continuing with our normal services which is around 40 buses. This time we are not running special buses,” says an official of Praveen Travels.

Many bus operators admit that this New Year eve has not been too profitable for them. Azhagu, who is in-charge of Rathi Meena, said that the reason was many of those people who had left their homes during their floods have yet to return to Chennai. “Most of the migrant workers have left their families in home and are staying as bachelors after the rains,” he said.

There may be some truth in it. But then there is another angle for the less crowd. This time most of the schools and colleges are functioning on January 2.

“I have a sentiment attached to celebrating New Year at my home. I will be leaving on New Year evening and will be back to take classes on January 2,” said a faculty of Sindhi college who was waiting for her bus.

Interestingly, even the state transport corporation was not plying special buses which it used to do previous year to contain the rush.

“For the last one month, the business had been dull. There have been less enquiries for Pongal also,” said a KPN Travels official.

Usually, most of the private bus operators had a special fare during the New Year eve last year. Usually, an ordinary ticket was sold for around Rs 1,000 and a Volvo bus ticket for Rs 2,000. But with less people travelling during New Year eve, bus operators are fearing that their profits could take a beating during Pongal.

“We are expecting a huge crowd on the eve of Pongal. But till now there has been less queries. Usually, we get family booking but till now it is not happening,” said a Praveen Travels official.

As Chennai and several parts of the state are trying to recoup after the floods, it remains to be seen whether the Pongal would be sweet or bitter for bus operators.