Pune: Lakhs of commuters faced hardships today as municipal city buses went off roads following a day`s token strike called by the employees` unions to press their demand for pay hike.
About ten thousand employees of Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd (PMPML) participated in the strike that paralysed municipal transport services as the entire fleet comprising 1550 buses remained grounded.
The strike was illegal and was undertaken without a notice to the administration, a PMPML spokesman said, adding that it was ready to open negotiations with the action committee of the employees which has given a call for an indefinite strike from February 21 if their demands are not met.
Over eleven lakh people commute daily by the PMPML buses, generating a an average revenue of about Rs one crore.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe said that the party activists had mobilised private vehicles to carry stranded people who failed to get alternative mode of transport in various parts of the city even as rickshaw drivers made a brisk business.
PTI
