State govt to ply 22% additional buses on bandh day
Kolkata: The state government will operate 22 percent additional buses on Wednesday and all the vehicles registered within the state will get an insurance up to Rs 6 lakh, if there is any sort of damage. The move comes with the state government taking all possible measures to ensure that there is no disruption of normal life in the wake of the nationwide industrial strike called by various trade unions to protest against the 'anti-national' and 'anti-people' policies of the Central government.
West Bengal Transport Corporation will operate 1,150 buses against 900 buses on a normal day, South Bengal State Transport Corporation will run 826 buses against 692 on a normal day while North Bengal State Transport Corporation will operate 655 buses compared to normal out shedding of 605 buses.
"Any vehicle damaged between 00.00 am and 12 midnight of January 8 will be covered under this insurance. The vehicles must have a valid registration certificate, permit, certificate of fitness and driving licence. FIR must be lodged within 24 hours of the incident. The claims of insurance should be submitted at the office of West Bengal Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited at Kasba," said a senior official of the state Transport department.
There will be three control rooms which will be functional from 6 am on Wednesday for 24 hours. The numbers of control rooms are (033) 2262-5409, (033) 2442-0278 and (033) 2475-1621. There will be an additional toll free number 1800-3455-192 and a WhatsApp No. 8902017191 where people may call in case of emergency.
There will be 4,000 police personnel deployed on Wednesday at various parts of the city with additional deployment at bus, tram depots and Metro stations.
The state government on Monday had issued a notice saying that all the government offices, including those provided with grants-in-aid will remain open on Wednesday. A notification issued by the Finance department has stated that all the government employees will have to report for duty at their respective offices on the day of strike. "It has been decided that no casual leave for absence either in the first half of the day or the second half of the day or the whole day will be granted to any of the employees on that day. No other leaves would be entertained as well," the notification categorically mentioned.
"Bandh should be the last resort of any movement. But frequent bandh calls is weakening the effectiveness of strikes. There will be no bandh in the state and the administration is making all arrangements to ensure that there is no inconvenience to common people," said Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee.
Mayor Firhad Hakim held a meeting with several representatives of market associations in the city where they declared that they will keep all shops open on Wednesday.
