India News | WB Transport Deptt Officials Meet Pvt Bus Operators, Discuss Ways to Normalise Services
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Senior West Bengal Transport Department officials on Wednesday met representatives of private bus operators, a large section of whom is not plying their vehicles demanding a fare hike, inconveniencing commuters amid the coronavirus lockdown.
Kolkata, Jul 1 (PTI) Senior West Bengal Transport Department officials on Wednesday met representatives of private bus operators, a large section of whom is not plying their vehicles demanding a fare hike, inconveniencing commuters amid the coronavirus lockdown.
The number of privately-owned buses in the city and districts is likely to increase from Thursday, All Bengal Bus Minibus Samannoy Samity General Secretary Rahul Chatterjee said.
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Transport woes continued to affect commuters on Wednesday, with people waiting at bus stops for long periods of time, as many private buses stayed off the roads, owing to high fuel prices and COVID-19 restrictions on the number of passengers allowed to board.
State Transport undertaking buses, however, were plying in full strength in the city and the districts, an official said.
Chatterjee said discussions over fare hike and other issues affecting the private bus transport business in the state will continue with the government.
"We have been plying some buses since May 27, which increased in June; the number of buses will increase further from Thursday," he said.
There are around 27,000 private buses in West Bengal, he said.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on Tuesday said her government will take over private buses and run the vehicles if normal services were not resumed.
Joint Council of Bus Syndicates, one of the largest private bus operators' association in the state, is yet to take a decision on getting vehicles back on the roads.
Its general secretary Tapan Banerjee said that Wednesday's meeting was held in a positive spirit.
"The council members will meet on Friday to take a call on whether to resume services following the talks with the transport secretary," he said.
With only around 25 per cent of private buses plying in the metropolis, commuters are having a harrowing time reaching their destination in the absence of suburban trains and Metro Railway, services of which are not available in the wake of the lockdown.
Meanwhile, a section of bus workers, who claimed to have been out of work for more than three months, sat on a dharna in Nagerbazar area in north Kolkata, seeking the chief minister's intervention in increasing fares.
"We have families to feed, we get paid on a daily basis and unless the fares are increased, it is not viable to run the buses. We want 'Didi' (CM) to look into our problem sympathetically," said Ratan Singh, one of the workers demonstrating with empty utensils.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)