Photo: People during a flash protest at the Haveri Central bus station in the city on Friday, against the shortage of buses on the Hangal route Haveri: Hundreds of commuters protested at the Haveri Central bus station in the city on Friday morning, blocking buses and demanding immediate improvements in bus services on the Hangal route, as road construction continues on the Haveri-Hangal-Sirsi route and buses are not being operated properly.Teachers, students, bank employees, various govt workers and traders travelling for business staged a sudden sit-in protest due to the lack of bus services. The protest led to a traffic jam around the bus station, with buses unable to leave or enter. The public expressed dissatisfaction over transport officials not running buses on time, saying they had been facing severe issues and had to take half or full-day leave if they did not reach work on time.Depot manager Prashant, who rushed to the scene, said bus services were delayed due to road work on the Haveri-Sirsi route. He requested two days to discuss the matter with senior officials and promised to run two additional buses. However, the public said they called and made verbal requests for the past 6 months without any response, and demanded the presence of the Haveri division transport controllers at the site.During the protest, govt employee Rabia said that instead of the four buses scheduled in the morning, only one was running, and only the long-distance Dharmasthala bus was on time. She said Sirsi division bus drivers used to be punctual, but due to Haveri division buses not running on time, they had also reduced their services. She described the daily struggle of travelling in overcrowded buses, with students hanging onto bus doors.Police personnel arrived to persuade the protesters, but they said they would disperse only if additional buses were provided. After extra buses were arranged for the Hangal route, the protesters submitted a request letter seeking on-time bus operations and withdrew the protest, urging that the issue be resolved within two days.
