Kolkata bus strike: The General Secretary of the West Bengal Bus and Minibus Owners’ Association has said public transport facilities would be withdrawn between March 18 and 20.

Kolkata: Private bus organizations across West Bengal have declared a three-day halt of services in the middle of March. The motive behind this interruption is to advocate for a lengthened lifespan beyond the current 15-year limit for discontinuing diesel commercial transports. Here are the details regarding the date and the affected routes.

Kolkata Bus Strike: Affected Dates

The General Secretary of the West Bengal Bus and Minibus Owners’ Association, Pradip Narayan Bose, said public transport facilities would be withdrawn in the state between March 18 and 20.

The operators demanded that the tenure of stage carriages, which are set to cross the 15-year time frame by 2024, be extended by another two years immediately.

“We have made a justified demand as our buses were mostly off the roads due to the COVID situation and lockdown during a greater phase of 2020–2022, and both employees and owners went through serious financial crises,” Tapan Bandyopadhyay of the Joint Council of Bus Syndicate said on Wednesday.

Bose claimed that representatives of the bus operators went to the transport department office during the day after giving notice, but neither the minister nor any other senior official were present to hear their views.

“We have still given them time until March 15 to think about our just demands, which are vital for the revival of the private transport sector that is in ICU, especially after COVID,” he said.

Final Ultimatum From West Bengal Bus and Minibus Owners’ Association

Bose said almost the entire fleet of the around 5,500 private buses and minibuses plying in Kolkata and its neighborhoods and Howrah will be off the roads in a year, starting July 2024, if the two-year extension is not given. In that case, around 5 lakh transport workers would be jobless, he said. The Joint Council of Bus Syndicate official said, “Even two-three years ago, 7,500–8,000 buses and 1,500 mini buses used to ply in the city.”.

“We don’t have the wherewithal to cough up Rs 32–35 lakh to buy new vehicles with Bharat Stage 6 emission norms,” Bandyopadhyay said.

A transport official said the 15-year deadline for old vehicles is the call of the high court to minimise pollution, and though the department is sympathetic to the bus operators, it cannot extend the deadline on its own.

“We had given them financial help during the time of COVID-19 and lockdown to tide over the crisis,” the official added.

(With inputs from agencies)