Bengal govt will take over & run private buses from July 3 if bus owners don’t run them from Wednesday

The West Bengal government will take over and run 6,000 private buses from July 3 if the “promise” the private bus owners had made before the state is not fulfilled from Wednesday, July 1, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday from the state administrative headquarters, Nabanna.

“We are under financial stress, and yet we were ready to offer Rs 27 crore subsidy to support the private bus owners for three months. But despite promising they would run the buses, they are not ready without higher fare. So we are being compelled to take this harsh step,” Banerjee said. The state government had promised to pay Rs 15,000 for each bus for three months to offer them support, as a high number of passengers cannot be allowed to prevent the spread of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). But bus owners want a higher fare. “People are facing difficulties. And this is not the time to take advantage of the situation. Fares are never lowered when the price of fuel falls,” Banerjee said.

The government will keep an eye on the roads to see if the private bus owners are running their vehicles from July 1 as promised. If they don’t, from July 3, the state government will take over the buses and run them. “If drivers and conductors of private vehicles are willing to work in these buses, we will pay their salary. Otherwise, we will make alternative arrangements,” Banerjee said.

“We are taking this extreme step out of compulsion, because people have to reach their workplaces, and we cannot allow crowding in order to prevent the spread of COVID,” the CM said.

Meanwhile, the state chief secretary Rajiva Sinha has written to the Union home secretary requesting the running of Metro Railway in Kolkata as it will add support to the public transport system. “Even if the trains are run with limited capacity, it will help those who are in essential service,” Banerjee said. The Bengal government has also requested the Union ministry of civil aviation to allow limited international flights and domestic flights from COVID-19 hotspots to Bengal for some time.