33,000 buses to go off roads on September 19 and 20: Mumbai
About 33,000 buses, majorly tourist buses have threatened a two day strike, in order to protest against the police traffic order restricting the entry of buses in the city. The two-day strike which will affect the inter-state and intra-state bus services along with the passengers largely.
Although school buses are exempted from the restriction order (it restricts entry of heavy vehicles and private buses in South Mumbai form 7 am till midnight), the bus owners have been directed by the police to park at pay-and-park areas.
"We had an emergency meeting of 350 members of bus associations on Thursday afternoon and decided to go on strike. We plan to meet chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and seek his intervention to resolve the crisis. The traffic police order must be withdrawn and a committee must look into our pending demands," said Harsh Kotak, general secretary of Mumbai Bus Malak Sangathan.
The police said the purpose of banning the entry of private buses and heavy vehicles was to "decongest SoBo (South Bombay)".
Amitesh Kumar, Joint Police Commissioner of traffic said that this was done in order to clear the carriageway as the heavy vehicles are being parked haphazardly.
"We want to free road space for smooth traffic movement. The restrictions are part of a two-month experiment. We will seek suggestions and objections from stakeholders before issuing the final notification," he said.
"But if this experiment has to be made permanent, the government will have to set up proper infrastructure, such as an inter-state bus terminal in Central Mumbai for parking buses, electronic indicators, and bays for prepaid taxis," he added.
-PTC News
