Private buses off the roads - Transporters on indefinite strike demand fare hike & highway repairs

TT;siliguri, Sept. 16: Over 6,000 private buses and maxi cabs will go off the roads in all districts of north Bengal from tomorrow for an indefinite period till fares are revised to offset the diesel price hike and roads are repaired. The decision to go on an indefinite strike will be a cause of concern for commuters in all north Bengal districts as 70 per cent of them use private buses and maxi cabs to go to work. The North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) has around 650 buses that ply on highways in this region. Even if NBSTC brings out all the buses in its garage, the number of vehicles is unlikely to exceed 700. 

 Yesterday, the decision on the strike was taken by the North Bengal Passenger Transport Owners’ Coordination Committee (NBPTOCC) at a meeting here. “Despite the pathetic condition of roads and non-revision of fares, we have been running our buses and maxi cabs across the region. Our maintenance and operational costs had increased substantially since the last revision of fares in 2008. However, now that the price of diesel has increased, we cannot afford to run our vehicles any more, unless the roads are repaired and the fares revised,” said Pranab Mani, the secretary of the transport owners’ committee. The committee represents 32 organisations of bus and maxi cab owners across north Bengal. “Over 6,000 private buses and maxi cabs in the region will go off the roads from tomorrow for an indefinite period. We can only rethink our decision if our demands are met,” Mani said. According to the bus owners, while there has been no hike in bus fares in the last four years, the cost of maintenance of the vehicles has gone up, mainly because of the deteriorating state of the highways in north Bengal. 

 “We have revised the salaries and wages of our staff during this period. Costs of tyres have doubled while insurance and lubricant costs have increased by 30 per cent. The price of diesel has increased by Rs a per litre since the last revision of fares,” Mani said. “We have to incur expenses for repairs and maintenance of our vehicles because of the bad roads and now that diesel prices have increased, we will suffer heavy losses if the fares arePrivate buses off the roads .