KOLKATA: A day after the breakthrough meeting between senior government officials and private bus operators, the latter resumed services on Thursday with the hope of fare revision by the state. More buses on road eased passengers’ woes to a great extent. Transport department also ensured that more STU buses on the road to bridge the demand-supply gap.
Commuters, though, kept their fingers crossed, hoping the services get even better in the days to come.
Transport minister Suvendu Adhikari said, “On Thursday, supply exceeded demand. At some points, buses were waiting for passengers. About 3,800 (total fleet 5,583) private buses operated on Thursday. Besides, 1,800 STU buses plied. Across the city, near normal ease in mobility could be achieved.” on Wednesday, only 1,300 private buses ran across the city.
Today, different bus operators’ syndicates held meeting with their members to convey the outcome of Wednesday’s talks. Joint Council of Bus Syndicate (JCBS) general secretary Tapan Bandyopadhyay said, “Wednesday’s meeting saw a breakthrough in the deadlock situation. We have raised a few demands which we hope will be sympathetically considered by the government for the survival of our trade.”
Their demands included immediate fare hike, exemption of tax, permit fee and withdrawal of citation case by traffic police. Bengal Bus Syndicate (BBS) also made similar demands. Much to the relief of transport operators, diesel price has also remained unchanged at Rs 75.62 for last three days.
Kolkata Police at different parts played a significant role in easing the transport trauma. The WBTC control room kept a close coordination with Kolkata Police traffic control room (TCR). On the basis of the report from TCR, the WBTC deployed empty buses at the spot for faster dispersal.
“We managed to supply buses one after another in most of the routes so that a passenger does not need to wait for more than 15-20 minutes,” said a WBTC official. “For last few days, we had a real nightmare while going to office and coming back home. But today, we are relieved to see so many buses on road,” said Snigdha Chakraborty, who travels from Santospur to Salt Lake.
Commuters, though, kept their fingers crossed, hoping the services get even better in the days to come.
Transport minister Suvendu Adhikari said, “On Thursday, supply exceeded demand. At some points, buses were waiting for passengers. About 3,800 (total fleet 5,583) private buses operated on Thursday. Besides, 1,800 STU buses plied. Across the city, near normal ease in mobility could be achieved.” on Wednesday, only 1,300 private buses ran across the city.
Today, different bus operators’ syndicates held meeting with their members to convey the outcome of Wednesday’s talks. Joint Council of Bus Syndicate (JCBS) general secretary Tapan Bandyopadhyay said, “Wednesday’s meeting saw a breakthrough in the deadlock situation. We have raised a few demands which we hope will be sympathetically considered by the government for the survival of our trade.”
Their demands included immediate fare hike, exemption of tax, permit fee and withdrawal of citation case by traffic police. Bengal Bus Syndicate (BBS) also made similar demands. Much to the relief of transport operators, diesel price has also remained unchanged at Rs 75.62 for last three days.
Kolkata Police at different parts played a significant role in easing the transport trauma. The WBTC control room kept a close coordination with Kolkata Police traffic control room (TCR). On the basis of the report from TCR, the WBTC deployed empty buses at the spot for faster dispersal.
“We managed to supply buses one after another in most of the routes so that a passenger does not need to wait for more than 15-20 minutes,” said a WBTC official. “For last few days, we had a real nightmare while going to office and coming back home. But today, we are relieved to see so many buses on road,” said Snigdha Chakraborty, who travels from Santospur to Salt Lake.
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