KOLKATA: Home-bound commuters find it difficult to get a bus to return home and they have to spend more on other modes of transport. Buses are going off roads because they cannot make a full trip before 9pm.
The government has been strictly enforcing the night curbs after 9pm and buses are often being seized by the enforcing authorities for violating it. A bus needs around 3.5-4 hours to complete a round trip in the city. Since they cannot complete a trip and run the risk of landing in trouble for being on the road after 9pm, most of the operators withdraw buses from various routes, leaving commuters stranded for hours.
"This is a serious issue. It is not unexpected in a crisis situation but all stakeholders should come together and address this on a priority basis.-TimesView"
Almost 90% of private buses go off the roads in the late afternoon, admitted the bus operators.
The hapless commuters have to opt for alternative modes of transport, which burns a hole in their pockets — they have to change several autos or take cabs or hire mini trucks jointly to reach their destinations.
“Nowadays, returning home is a nightmare for many people like me as buses disappear from the road. We have no other option than paying through our noses to return home,” said Anil Patabardhan, who travels to his home at Behala all the way from his office at Park Circus.
“No operator runs the risk of getting penalised for plying bus on road after 9pm. That is why, buses go off the roads without completing the routes. Besides, the bus crew — driver, conductor and cleaner — also go back home by buses. They park the buses early in garages to catch buses to return home,” said Titu Saha, general secretary of City Suburban Bus Service. “Earlier, we had a great inconvenience as buses were fewer. But now buses are plenty during the morning peak hours, but in the evening, the city roads are ruled by autos, mini trucks and other vehicles as buses disappear from roads. Even if you find a bus run by one of state transport undertakings (STUs), it is so jam-packed that you cannot find a toehold,” said Mukti Chandra, who will retire next year and repents her extra expenditure on conveyance.
The city commuters mostly depend on private buses. Nearly 5,000 buses in the city ferry maximum passengers. If the private buses stay off the roads, the public transport system gets crippled. What makes the situation worse is that the suburban train services are yet to resume. “Trains and buses are complementary to each other. We feed passengers to the railway, railway feeds passengers to us. If one is off, the other suffers,” said Tapan Banerjee, general secretary, joint council of bus syndicates.
