Kolkata: Given the price of astronomical diesel – it is Rs 100.49 per liter in Kolkata on Friday – time may come for the government to declare the private bus industry “sick”, said the false board of buses and the Minibus operator coordination committee.
As soon as the diesel level crosses the RS 100 sign on Thursday, a private bus on several routes away from the road, says it is not feasible to run the vehicle in the current situation.
With the State Transportation Department asked the owner of a private bus to provide the exact number of details of the number of buses that are still operational, Tapan Banerjee, on behalf of the board with the bus syndicate, claiming “the government must see how the route itself folds”.
“Less than 400 state buses have hit the road a day.
Some government bus routes, such as 2, 2b, 10, S11, 12D and 3A, have run on framework services, even though they accept the government’s aide.
We don’t have anyone to fund us .
We demand diesel GST brought down to allow us to continue the service.
We also demand that this industry is declared sick, “said Banerjee, indicating that they were looking at a financial package to survive.
According to private bus operators, diesel prices may have reached a century in Kolkata on Thursday, but the rates have been very high for a while.
As a result, they have attracted the bus for a week now.
For example, from 22 buses on the KB-15 route, only 13 operates.
On route 230, between Kamarhati and Alipore Zoo, 25 of the 60 buses did not run on Thursday, while on route 235, between Amtala and Salt Lake, around 16 buses did not run.
The popular route 007, 75, 83 and 17b has run less than five buses.
The Ghosh Program from the Minibus operator coordination committee said the situation was similar in their part.
The route Minibus Joka-Ruby, which has 14 buses, has operated only four.
The Dunlop-BBD minibus route has run only four of the 20 buses since Monday.
All of the 20 Behala-Chowrasta Minibus has stopped plying.
But Ghosh and several others hope for revival after the suburban train begins to operate from next Sunday.
“We hope after the local train starts plying, we can meet some of our costs.
If it doesn’t happen, we might have to stop the service even from this exhaustive fleet,” Ghosh said.