Commuters face hardship at Karnataka-TN border

TN commuters to Bengaluru faced hardship due to Karnataka bandh; autos at border offered rides to Attibele bus stand for ₹20/person. Police stopped TN buses & cars, but Kannada activists blocked Hosur road briefly before police allowed traffic to move.

Commuters travelling from Tamil Nadu to Bengaluru faced hardship on Friday when the Karnataka bandh during the bandh, as vehicles, including government and private buses bearing TN registration numbers, were stopped at the border point near Hosur.

Scenes of commuters alighting from buses on the other side of the border and crossing over to the State on foot were common all through the day. To reach their destinations in the city, they had to travel 1.5 km further to Attibele to board BMTC buses.

But autorickshaw drivers on the Karnataka side came to their rescue. The autos were standing in line near the border despite the bandh and charging ₹20 per person (sharing mode) to drop them off at the Attibele bus stand.

Murali Thyagraj, an auto driver, said that until afternoon, each auto clocked 4-5 trips, and about 20 autos were catering to the commuters. He also said as bus services to Hosur, which is located 15 km from the border, were few, many from Attibele hired autos to catch buses on the other side of the border.

Those who could not afford auto rickshaws walked to the bus stand. Mallesh, a daily wage labourer who visited his relative’s place at Hosur, said he was walking as he could not afford other modes of transportation. He said the police should have allowed TN registration buses up till Attibele as commuters had to face the ordeal.

Tamil Nadu police, besides stopping private buses, also asked private cars to return unless their travel was unavoidable. The police were seen advising them against travel as a precautionary measure. For a brief period of time, Kannada activists blocked Hosur road and later police allowed the traffic to move.