KOLKATA: Travel-nightmares have returned to
haunt commuters in the run up to
Puja with over 70%
buses have gone off the road because of mounting losses, long trip time because of traffic snarls and fear of getting buses requisitioned by cops.
Even the state transport undertakings (STU) buses have reduced trips to minimize the losses.
Private bus operators made an appeal to the government not to requisition buses for Puja duty as bus workers are refusing to work in the
Covid-19 situation. “Cops have already requisitioned a
large number of buses. Since they have to work with requisitioned buses against a meager daily allowance, they have decided not to run buses,” said Tapan Banerjee, general secretary, joint council of bus syndicates.
Moreover, running buses in pre-Puja days has not only become cumbersome, but it takes a humongous time to complete a round trip because of traffic gridlock. Most of the buses cannot complete one round trip. Unless a bus can make at least three trips, the loss becomes unmanageable. Thus, it becomes pointless to run buses,” said Tanmaoy Sikdar, a bus operator.
Even the STUs have reduced trips. WBTC for instance earned Rs 4.5 crore from fare, yet spent more than Rs 9 crore on fuel bills. This has led WBTC to reduce trips to bring down the fuel cost. WBTC has already reduced the number of buses in non-profitable routes and non-peak hours when there are hardly any passengers. STUs have sought fund from the government to bridge the yawning gap between fare and fuel bill.
This situation has left commuters in a lurch. “In absence of suburban train and limited access to
Metro rail, we are overwhelmingly dependent on buses. But in the last few days, the number of buses dropped drastically. Our waiting time for a bus has grown by four times. If it took just five to seven minutes earlier, now it takes 25 to 35 minutes. Later, when the bus arrives, its badly overcrowded,” said Samik Ghosh, a private firm employee from Behala.