Bhubaneswar: Private buses across Odisha went off-road from Friday as the bus owners’ association launched an “indefinite” strike.
According to a source, the association launched the strike from 6am today to oppose Location Accessible Multimodal Initiative (LAccMI) scheme of the state government.
Notably, the bus strike coincided with the commencement of the Durga Puja festivities across the state. Hundreds of passengers, travelling to their hometowns for the festivities, were seen waiting in long queues at different bus stands and terminals since early morning.
Though the Odisha government during a meeting October 9 had assured that buses under LAccMI scheme will not ply from the blocks to districts, the promise has not been kept, said Private Bus Owners’ Association general secretary Debendra Sahu.
Odisha Transport Minister Tukuni Sahu had appealed the private bus owners to call off the strike in view of the Durga Puja festival, but the association remained adamant on its demand and sought a written assurance from the administration, the officials said.
“The decision of the association is completely unilateral. We have called them for discussion again October 26. People should not be made to suffer, and the bus owners should cooperate with the government,” the minister said, adding, LAccMI bus services will continue.
Debendra Sahu said the bus owners had no intention to inconvenience commuters during Durga Puja, but they were “forced to go for the strike”.
“We were told that LAccMi buses will operate only from panchayats to blocks and not to district headquarters. Therefore, we had put our strike scheduled October 10 on hold. Unfortunately, the Odisha government-operated LAccMi buses are still plying to the districts. The administration has not kept its word,” he had said Thursday.
Also read: Two-year-old girl dies after falling into water-filled vessel in Odisha
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had earlier this month launched the affordable bus service under LaccMI, which aimed at connecting all gram panchayats with district headquarters and the state capital.
Sahu claimed that during the October 9 meeting, state government officials had given the assurance that buses under the scheme will not ply beyond blocks.
Odisha’s road communication is heavily dependent on private bus service, with around 14,000 private buses plying against only 2,000 government buses, transport department sources said.
PNN & Agencies