Violent protests at Secunderabad Railway Station against the proposed Agnipath scheme of the Central government for Army recruitment resulted in disruption of Metro Rail services for five to six hours across the city on Friday.
Services were stopped on all the three Metro rail corridors abruptly by an announcement made by the L&T Hyderabad Metro Rail after news broke about trains being set on fire at Secunderabad Station.
The abrupt halt, which came post noon, was maintained for the next five hours, putting commuters to untold hardships.
“I was stuck at MGBS Interchange waiting to change the trains when the announcement came. I had to wind up the journey half way through despite buying a ticket till Secunderabad,” shared P. Ashalatha, a commuter.
As the train services resumed only at 6.35 p.m., majority of the peak hour commuters had to find alternative means of travel, paying much more than usual.
RTC buses, plying in much-reduced numbers on the routes of Secunderabad, carried way higher number of commuters than permitted for their capacity. Six seater autos bulged with commuters hanging on both sides, while auto aggregators charged a bomb.
“I usually pay ₹18-20 for the bike ride booked through Uber Moto for the short distance of about a kilometre up to my office. But today, the app showed ₹65, so I walked,” said Sowmya M, another commuter.
On social media, users frantically inquired as to when the services would be resumed.
