The public transport, mainly buses, on Tuesday remained off the roads as a mark of protest against the perpetually increase in prices of petroleum products and the "apathy of the government" towards public sufferings.
On the strike call of Karachi Transport Ittehad (KTI) all busses, mini-buses and coaches remained parked in garages, almost all near petrol pumps, and by roadside, to express solidarity with protesters who had been criticising the government for its inattention towards public grievances.
Hundreds of people were seen waiting on bus stops for any kind of transport to reach their work places. However, shortage of public transport did not affect attendance in educational institutions, banks, commercial organisations and government offices.
Even taxies and rickshaws were seen in limited numbers and associated themselves with the Transport Ittehad. However, the strike proved advantageous for those who transported people from one destination to another and charged exorbitant fares.
To defy the strike call were the buses of Urban Transport Scheme (UTS) and coaches of Metro Bus Service, which plied on their routes strictly according to their schedule.
In addition, inter-city buses were also seen plying on their routes. Oil tankers had already disassociated from the KTI strike call.
The city government had made arrangements to maintain law and order in the city. Heavy contingents of rangers, paramilitary forces and police were seen patrolling sensitive areas.
No report of any major untoward incident was received from anywhere in the city.
The KTI has said that this token strike would be followed by long duration strikes if the government failed to revise prices of petroleum products. It demanded that petrol prices should be fixed at Rs 36 per litre and diesel at Rs 26 per litre.
In the meantime, the ARD has supported the stand taken by KTI and said that it would chalk out programme in respect of countrywide protest against increase in petroleum products prices.
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