Title - Shutdown threat looms over Kolkata

KOLKATA: Brace for unprecedented transport chaos next week as bus owners go on indefinite strike from Monday and cabbies go off the roads for three days from September 20.The private transport operators are not calling it a strike. They just cannot ply their vehicles after the Rs 5 diesel price hike and the state government's no-fare-hike policy, they say.Bus and mini-bus operators have given the government an ultimatum to hike fares by Sunday. Taxi owners say they can pull on somehow till September 20 but not a day after that on the old fares.Lakhs of Kolkatans may be alarmed by the commuting nightmare ahead, but the state government does not seem to be in a hurry. The cabinet will take up the issue next week, said transport minister Madan Mitra, urging transporters not to call a strike. The group of ministers for transport will meet at Writers' Buildings on Monday, he said."Please do not take any drastic step. Don't put a time frame to your demand. It is we who have given a time-frame to the Centre," Mitra said, referring to chief minister Mamata Banerjee's three day-ultimatum to the Centre for a rollback."We, too, were taken aback by the hike. We did not know anything about it although Trinamool is part of UPA-II," he said, reminding transporters that Mamata is leading a protest march on Saturday. "If the chief minister organizes something, she takes the protest to a logical end," Mitra assured.

Mitra, under intense pressure from transporters, told them that the government was also suffering losses. "We have been left in the worst possible situation. We are coughing up Rs 600 crore as transport subsidy already, and this fresh hike will increase the subsidy amount," he argued.

Mitra's promises failed to soothe the frayed nerves of transport operators. "From Monday, all 37,000 buses in the city and the district roads will be withdrawn as it is completely unviable to operate any more. We cannot run a bus for even half a day without immediate fare-revision," said Tapan Banerjee, joint secetary of the Joint Council of Bus Syndicates.

Sanjib Roy of the Bengal Taxi Association said: "We have unanimously decided to go on a three-day strike from September 20. If the government fails to respond to the crisis, our trade will die out. We cannot bleed any more." None of the 40,000 taxis that ply in Kolkata will be available to commuters, he warned.

The bus and taxi operators have apologized to commuters. "We realize it will inconvenience people but we have been pushed to the edge. It is a do-or-die situation for us," said BTA secretary Bimal Guha. Bus operators echoed the sentiment.

Unlike Mumbai, private buses and taxis ferry the highest number of daily passengers. The strike will spell doom for commuters. It will have the same effect as a general strike in Bengal - total shutdown.

The entire fleet of government buses carries 13.9 lakh passengers a day. Eastern, South Eastern and the Metro Railway collectively carry 34 lakh passengers. But private buses carry 40.80 lakh passengers and taxis ferry 14.57 lakh a day.