KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Friday asked the state government how it proposed to overcome the losses incurred by the KSRTC due to the damage caused by supporters of the hartal called by the PFI and also due to the cancellation of its schedule.
Lawyer Deepu Thankan, counsel for KSRTC, said 70 buses were damaged by the hartal supporters. So far, 59 buses have been vandalised by hartal supporters, of which 57 are owned by the corporation, one is a low-floor AC bus and one is the K-Swift bus.
As many as 10 employees, including eight drivers and two conductors, and one lady passenger were injured in stone pelting. The windshield of an RTC bus costs Rs 8,000, that of a AC low-floor bus Rs 40,000 and that of a K-Swift bus Rs 22,000. It will take at least two weeks for these buses to be repaired and released. There are other losses caused by the KSRTC following the hartal, the counsel said.
The court asked the government pleader whether it would recover the damage from the PFI secretary. The court also asked how the perpetrators mustered the courage to attack the KSRTC buses during the hartal. The court wondered why the people, especially in the state, indulged in such lawlessness. In fact, fear should be created in the mind of the perpetrators that if they damaged the KSRTC buses, they would be dealt with sternly.
The court also noted that there were isolated incidents of misbehaviour by the employees of the KSRTC because of their arrogance that they were government servants. As a result, the public opinion was turning against them. This would create a deleterious effect on the corporation.