Three days on, Baguiati services to resume today

KOLKATA: Auto drivers on the Baguiati-Ultadanga route stayed off the road for the third consecutive day on Friday, spelling inconvenience for thousands of commuters. But following a meeting with senior officials of transport department at the Beltala public vehicles department late in the evening, the INTTUC-backed union, which has called the strike, promised to resume services on Saturday.

The 400-plus auto owners and drivers, who have suspended services since Wednesday morning to protest against rising number of illegal “flying” autos on the route and alleged police inaction to crack down on them, staged a sit-demonstration at the Baguiati crossing on Friday. In the evening, a group of union leaders and drivers met PVD officials, who assured them of action against the illegal vehicles from next week. “From Monday, our motor vehicles inspectors will visit the area and check documents of three-wheelers operating on VIP Road. Those found with forged documents will be penalised and their vehicles will be seized,” said a PVD official.
Happy with the assurance, the union leaders promised to resume services on Saturday morning. “The meeting was fruitful and we agreed to consider resuming the services from Saturday, given the strike meant trouble for passengers as well as drivers,” said Somenath Dutta, assistant secretary of the union.
Commuters, who have been at the receiving end of the three-day strike, want it to end at the earliest. “Travelling to office and back has turned into a nightmare. Buses on this route have been packed and the few autos that have been operating have been charging double,” said Goutam Samanta, a Teghoria resident. Another daily passenger, Anwesha Mukherjee, said she was threatened and harassed by an auto driver at Ultadanga crossing when she refused to pay extra. “I was charged almost double the fare for a ride till Baguiati. When I questioned him, he misbehaved with me. When I said I would call the cops, he said he was not scared,” said Mukherjee, a second-year MCA student.
The group of auto drivers who had not joined the strike avoided the Baguiati crossing through the day, plying along the opposite flank of the road and the service roads to escape the protesters on the road.