Commuters face hardships as lesser number of private buses ply on roads

Kolkata: Commuters faced hardships as less number of private buses plied on roads on Tuesday.

However, government buses were out in full strength. "There are 42, 000 buses and 3,000 buses in West Bengal. Only 40 per cent of these buses are running on the roads. The reason is all the buses were parked at the stands for more than two months due lockdown and most of the buses are not in running condition," said Tapan Banerjee, general secretary of Joint Council of Bus Syndicates.

While social distancing was being maintained in government buses, passengers with more than the seating capacity were seen in several private buses.

According to sources, government buses ran in more than 164 buses.

The ferry services, operated by the West Bengal Transport Corporation and Hooghly Nadi Jalapath Paribahan Samabay Samiti (HNJPSS), were operational in 29 routes. State Transport department is also running 11 special buses for Kolkata Municipal Corporation employees. Yellow taxis and online cabs were plying on the roads.

"On Tuesday, more than 3,000 Ola and Uber cabs are running on the roads. Sufficient number of cabs are also available at Sealdah and Howrah station," said Indranil Banerjee, general secretary of West Bengal Online Cab Operators Guild.

In a bid to extend facility of swift transport of essential commodities, 00463 Howrah-Amritsar Parcel Express train has been provided with additional stoppage at Madhupur with effect from June 10.