23 of 26 buses off highways in Alipurduar - Owners forced to sell buses bought on loan

TT, Alipurduar, July 2: Only three of the 26 private buses have been plying on NH31 and NH31D here for the past three months because of the bad condition of the highways. Most of the private buses running from Alipurduar to Siliguri and Jalpaiguri as well as on the Cooch Behar-Siliguri and Cooch Behar-Jalpaiguri route have stopped the services. Many have bought private buses on loan and are unable to pay the installments every month because they are incurring losses. Gobindo Sarkar, the secretary of Jalpaiguri-Dooars Mini Bus Owner’s Association said: “Our condition is bad. Around 23 out of 26 buses are not plying but we have to pay installments of Rs 20,000 minimum every month (for our loans). Six private bus owners have been forced to sell their buses in Alipurduar,” he said. “When we organise a movement, the administration tells us that the roads will soon be repaired but nothing is done. On the other hand, most people from Cooch Behar and Alipurduar are now taking trains, instead of buses. The loss we are facing is beyond imagination. We pay road tax to the government but unfortunately the money is not spent on the maintenance of roads,” he added. Private bus owners in Cooch Behar are also face a similar problem. From Cooch Behar to Siliguri and Jalpaiguri, 40 private buses used to run, but now only 20 buses are taking the route. Government buses are also facing problems. Joydeb Thakur, managing director of NBSTC, said: “We are getting passengers but the problem we are facing is that the buses are unable to reach the destination on time because of the poor condition of roads.” Office goers, teachers and students are also facing problems because of the poor availability of buses and are not being able to reach offices and schools on time. Subroto Narjinary, a teacher who travels to Birpara from Alipurduar daily, said: “Everybody is worried about the bus owners but nobody bothers about the commuters. Because of few buses we cannot reach our destinations on time. During office hours, there are no trains available and we have no other mode of transport, except taking a bus.” Most people from Cooch Behar and Alipurduar now prefer to take trains to reach Siliguri because of the poor condition of the roads.