Poor get poorer
As always, given the inequities built into the global economic system, the poorest people in the world have been the…
Thousands of commuters faced inconvenience as most private bus operators have withdrawn bus services due to Diwali.
By a rough estimate only five hundred buses and six hundred mini buses plied in the city today whereas eight thousand bus and mini bus run in the city and its outskirts on a normal day according to the representatives of Joint Council of Bus Operators and mini bus operators association.
Many bus operators have stooped plying their fleets since last night causing inconvenience to thousands of passengers.
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The state-run transport corporations today also reduced the number of bus services as many bus drivers and conductors have taken leave for Diwali.
Fewer taxis were also to be seen than on a normal day and yellow cab drivers who plied their fleet were charging exorbitant rates. I along with my four year old child waited for more than half an hour to get a bus from Dunlop to College Street.
Then I took a taxi and shelled out Rs.400 to reach College Street said Mr Arunava Maiti a resident of Barahnagar.
Ranjan Bhattacharya who arrived at Howrah station this afternoon said he waited for an hour to get a bus from Howrah station to Salt Lake Sector V.
Buses are an important mode of transport in the city but I noticed fewer number of buses today. Later I hired a taxi and had to pay Rs.400 to reach Salt Lake said Bhattacharya.
New age taxi operators including Ola Uber and BookMyCab however operated more or less as usual and provided some relief to commuters.
An Uber driver said he made 18 trips between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. while a Uber operator made 11 trips between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
I have been driving non-stop from 9 a.m. I had thought of taking a rest but there is such high demand that I thought of working a bit extra said Aanand Pattanaik an Ola driver.
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