Bus, taxi operators hike fares as Kurmi protests hit railways

Jamshedpur: The indefinite rail and road blockade by the Adivasi Kurmi Samaj (AKS) has affected the travel plans of most commuters, including those who were caught unawares. Many of them are now taking the help of long-distance bus operators, who are routing their vehicles via Dhanbad to travel to Kolkata and adjoining towns.
As members and supporters of the AKS are blocking the NH-49 which links Kharagpur to Baharagora, the buses are routed through Dhanbad, increasing the travel time and also hiking the fares to a great extent.
K D Singh, a private bus operator, said, “The travel distance has increased by about 120 km due to which the input cost has also increased. Obviously, the fares will also increase.”
Another bus operator, Pawan Pandey, said the distance from Tatanagar to Howrah is over 280 km and by taking the Dhanbad way, the distance increases by 120 km more.
In the past three days — between Wednesday and Friday — over 800 passengers travelled to Kolkata, Santragachi, Shalimar, Asansol, Kharagpur and other towns on inter-state buses through this route.
A stationery shop owner, Sandeep Burman, said, “It is costing Rs 200 extra but traders, businessmen and other people with pressing needs to travel are taking the longer route.”
Meanwhile, taxi operators said due to the cancellation of trains, passenger movement between Ranchi and Jamshedpur is badly affected. “People who have work in Ranchi are either going by bus or booking taxis,” a taxi operator, Vishal Singh, said. An On Cab taxi service operation, Sandeep Sharma, said the demand for cabs has doubled and bookings for Ranchi, Bokaro, Kharagpur and Kolkata have increased manifold in the last two days.
On Friday, the railways said all up-direction trains originating from Howrah, Santragachi, Shalimar and Kharagpur to Tatanagar, Rourkela, Bilaspur and Mumbai will remain cancelled from April 7 till the Kurmi stir is not over. Besides, trains to Bihar, UP and Odisha from Tatanagar were cancelled for the third day.
As of Friday, the railways cancelled 59 trains, which included over two dozen trains that originate or pass through Tatanagar and Chakradharpur stations.
The Kurmi community is staging dharnas at Khemasoli station, between Tatanagar and Kharagpur sections, Kustaur station, and between Chandil and Sini section apart from blocking NH-49 during their protest to demand ST status.