School buses stay off roads in Pune

Junnar Narayangaon

Rajgurunagar

Wakad Hinjewadi

Lavasa

Manchar

Khed

Jejuri PUNE: Fearing the Maratha protests may turn violent, schools in Pune declared a holiday on Monday morning. Since last week, Pune has seen several protest marches by Maratha community groups. On Sunday, the Maratha Kranti Morcha had taken out a rally demanding cases against Maratha protestors be dropped.

Pawar Public School in Hadapsar, was among the schools that decided to declare Monday a holiday as a preventive action. Principal Padmavati Joshi said the measure was taken for students’ security students. School buses and vans were informed to not make any pickups on Monday morning.

Although the Pune Bus Owners’ Association maintained solidarity with the cause of the rally, its vice-president Rajan Junawane said, “Officially, we did not observe any strike of school buses.”

Baramati

However, some operators refused to ply buses when the situation in Pune became turbulent.

One operator who requested anonymity said, “I left for my pickup in the morning, but when reaching the spot was told by fellow bus drivers about the strike. It differs from place to place, and in this area, people didn’t want to take the risk. So, we asked parents to take care of pickup and drops for Monday.”