Kolkata, Jul 29 (PTI) An association of tram users on Tuesday said its members would hold a sit-in before the Kolkata Municipal Corporation headquarters here on August 1 to protest against the alleged attempt to bituminise tracks in parts of the city in the garb of maintenance of roads.
The Calcutta Tram Users Association (CUTA), with over 600 enthusiasts working to revive the city’s heritage transport mode, alleged that the state government and its various agencies are “systematically trying to phase out tram services across the length and breadth of the city, bringing the total number of running tram routes from 37 in 2011 to two at present”.
CUTA spokesperson Debhashis Bhattacharya claimed that KMC has been “using asphalt indiscriminately” in north Kolkata’s Chitpur area and the localities in the southern part of the city, despite restrictions on any such move imposed by Calcutta High Court in a recent order.
A KMC official said the civic body has “no information about bituminisation of tram tracks”.
“We also want to know the reason behind suspending tram services along the Tollygunje-Ballygunje route for the past one year under the pretext of repairing the underground pipelines. We think these are part of the conspiracy to wind up tram services and introduce app cab and auto rickshaw services,” he added.
The KMC official said the underground works for repairing pipelines are necessary.
Around 200 protestors will first hold a sit-in outside the KMC headquarters on August 1 at 1 pm and then proceed along a defunct tram route as far as possible,” he said.
From 37 tram routes in Kolkata in 2011, the number has declined to two after the pandemic, a transport department official said.
The city had 61 km of tram lines in 2011, which had reduced to only 12 km in 2022.
Over 70,000 passengers used to travel on trams in 2011, but this has now reduced to a few thousand passengers.
The state government has stopped investing in running trams since 2018.
Transport minister Snehasis Chakraborty had earlier said the government is keen to retain tram services along heritage routes, and as the issue of trams is now sub-judice, it will not take any unilateral decision but wait for the court verdict. PTI SUS BDC
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.