Kolkata, Aug 7 (PTI) An apex body of private bus operators on Monday urged the West Bengal government to extend the 15-year time frame for stage carriages, which came on city roads in 2009, by another two years.
The West Bengal Bus and Minibus Owners Association general secretary Pradip Narayan Bose told PTI they informed the officials of the Transport Department that not more than five per cent of the private buses currently plying in the city and neighbourhood pockets will be out on the road by 2025.
“This is because the current fleet of BS 4-5 compliant buses will no longer be functional in another two year time. As these buses had hit the roads in 2009-10, they will not be allowed to ply after 2024-25. As per environment norms, no commercial vehicles are allowed to ply after 15 years in the city,” Bose said.
Hence the association has urged the Transport Department officials to actively consider extending the 15-year period of buses and mini buses to 17 years for the interest of commuters and bus employees, he added.
Bose said due to the lockdown private buses were mostly off the roads for two years since 2020 and hence the 15-year period should be extended by two years for phasing out stage carriages.
Presently 32,000 buses ply in the city, around 40 per cent less than the pre-Covid times, association sources said.
Bose said the members also discussed with senior Transport department officials the issue of relocating private buses, terminating at the Esplanade-Sahid Minar area, to other parts turning down the suggestion of buses circling the area, dropping passengers, and then resuming the trip again.
“We also want to cooperate with regard to the green mission of the government, to curb pollution in the belt, but they have to consider that the bus industry has hit a lean patch after Covid, in fact, the private bus operators are bleeding. Hence any step, which will hit us hard economically and also deprive our staff to have some break after a long trip, is not acceptable to us,” Bose said.
The private bus operators further urged the government to restore the minibus hub at BBD Bagh, which had been closed for building a metro station.
“As the station has been completed, we want the old site be restored and also all the route owners, who had been badly hit due to the closure of the bus terminus, be compensated by the government,” he said.
A Transport Department official said while it may not be feasible to extend the 15-year timeline for commercial vehicles, the bus operators have been asked to submit their proposals in writing about other issues.
“We have to shift the bus terminus from the heart of the city in a given time. But how this can be achieved accommodating the views of stakeholders in the industry, we are open for discussions,” the official added. PTI SUS RG
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