Transport issues occurred in West Bengal, as WB govt announced to run private and govt. buses with 50 per cent passengers

Kolkata: In new guidelines of West Bengal lockdown, the govt announced to run private and govt buses with 50 per cent passengers. The government also allowed private and corporate offices with 50 per cent employees.

As a result, transport issues occurred in the state. People have to invest a lot of money to go to their offices. Talking with one of them, MD Anwar Hossain said, “I would usually take a private bus from Garden to reach my office at Ballygunge Phari. Now I have to take at least three auto rides and that cost more than four times the amount I would have paid for bus fare.”

On Saturday an official said, “On Friday, the number of busses was a shade more than what it was on Thursday.” He also said, “we will wait and watch… we don’t have a clue.”

In the bus stops where people are looking for buses. There were just few of transporting bus. Even a lot people are traveling with risking their life, hanging from the door of the bus.

Because of that many auto operators are demanding higher fares than existing ones. A passenger from Sonarpur Rabi Mandal said, “I ended up spending around RS 80 on Friday to reach office in Beltala near Bhowanipore, changing auto rickshaws four times in between. On other days it would cost Rs 14 to cover the same distance on two private busses.”

According to several academics, a regulatory commission should be in place to decide fares considering four board parametres- the hike in the price of diesel over the past few years, the wholesale price index, the consumer price index and the cost of investment of the operators.

Updated by Sharaya Paul

News source: The Telegraph

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