Private bus operators in Kerala will go on an indefinite strike from midnight tonight in protest against the motor vehicles department's decision to make it mandatory for the buses to fix speed governors in wake of the recent road mishap at Malappuram, which claimed 13 lives.
The decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of bus owners here today.
The state government had cancelled permits of various buses which had not fixed speed governors following a spate of road accidents in Kerala, including the Malappuram mishap on Friday.
Bus owners said the increasing road mishaps were not due to lack of speed governors, but due to the bad condition of roads in the state.
They claimed the motor vehicle department was not closely monitoring the speed of state-owned Kerala State Road Transport corporation buses and only owners of private buses were "being harassed".
Yesterday, 299 private buses, including KSRTC, were issued 'stop memo' by the Motor vehicle department and they cannot operate the services from today.
