Jalpaiguri private bus operators feel the heat of NBSTC competition

EOI, JALPAIGURI, 5 Feb 2015: Efforts to improve services also have their perils, as the West Bengal transport department will soon realize. Owners of private buses plying from Jalpaiguri to Siliguri, Haldibari and different destinations in Dooars on Thursday resolved to launch an indefinite strike from next week, agitated over losses they were allegedly were suffering due to introduction of over 30 new services on these routes by the NBSTC.

"Our daily earning is being affected as there is little scope for us to get adequate passengers and keep services profitable. We decided to meet the Jalpaiguri district magistrate and seek the intervention of the administration. Hundreds of people are employed by us and we will have no other alternative but to launch a strike from next week," said Jalpaiguri Zilla Besorkari Poribahan Joutha Sangram Committee representative Sudipta Ghosh.

"No proper survey of passengers was carried out by the state transport department or the district administration before NBSTC buses were introduced on these routes. Such survey is necessary to find out whether there are adequate passengers for such buses on a particular route. The NBSTC buses are run without a proper timetable, depriving our buses of enough passengers," said an agitated bus owner.

According to the private bus owners, 42 buses run between Jalpaiguri to Siliguri, while 56 ply from Jalpaiguri to different destinations in the Dooars. And 12 buses operate in the Jalpaiguri-Haldibari route.

"Earlier, five NBSTC buses used to run on the Jalpaiguri-Siliguri route and there was one NBSTC bus each on the Jalpaiguri-Malbazar and Jalpaiguri-Haldibari routes. In the past three-four months, the NBSTC introduced 34 additional buses on these routes under JNNURM project," said another private bus owner.