West Bengal Transport Minister
Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday held a meeting with private bus operators across the state for resuming their services in non-containment areas, sources said.
Joint Council of Bus Syndicate secretary Tapan Banerjee said the operators have been asked to come up with their proposals to increase fares for running the buses with a maximum of 20 passengers in the Kolkata Municipal Area (KMA).
The minister has asked the private bus owners' associations to put forward their proposals by Friday, the sources said.
The minister has conveyed them that the resumption of private bus services in non-containment areas of KMA is being actively considered, Banerjee said.
The Bus Minibus Samannoy Samiti secretary Rahul Chatterjee said Adhikari has asked them to submit their proposals for fares, following the failure to restart private bus services in the green districts of the state.
Private operators in the state have not shown interest in running buses in the green zones with maximum 20 passengers at a time, claiming that it would lead to financial losses.
Even doubling of fares for the private buses, which were allowed to ply in intra-district routes in green zones, failed to persuade the owners, who claimed that a 45-seater bus carries on an average 60 to 70 passengers with scope for standing.
"Doubling of fares was also not enough to cover the cost of running the buses with only 20 passengers," Chatterjee said.
Meanwhile, the state-run transporter WBTC augmented its services from Wednesday to 15 routes across the city from 7 during the lockdown.
The government has directed that all buses would carry a maximum of 20 passengers maintaining social distancing norms, but people forcefully boarded the buses en route, leading to arguments with the staff.
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