The bus operators’ demand for minimum fare hike following the rise in diesel prices by Rs 5 per litre received a warm support from the people of Kolkata. The daily commuters, who faced tremendous transportation woes due to the indefinite private bus strike called by the Joint Council of Bus Syndicate and Bengal Bus Syndicate, on Monday welcomed their decision of Rs 1 hike and criticised the state government’s stance on it.
“The state government must immediately increase the bus fare and leave us from the transportation chaos,” said an Asiatic Society employee Saroj Maity who waited for an hour to catch a bus to Andul.
Struggling to catch a bus to Howrah, a student of St Xavier’s College Bishruti Chatterjee said: “There should not be such hue and cry for Rs 1 hike when prices of every other commodities are going up every now and then. It would be a transportation disaster if bus operators go for an indefinite strike.”
The intensity of the strike was grievous enough to left commuters with no choice but to seek different ways to reach their destinations. “The strike cannot be the solution. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee should stop her populist and appeasement gimmicks and increase the bus fare without compromising the service,” a serviceman from Behala said.