14,000 buses remain off roads in Odisha as 'indefinite' strike cripples commuters

Bhubaneswar: Passenger bus services across Odisha were hit on Friday, as the apex private bus owners’ association launched its 'indefinite' strike in protest against the state government’s policy over plying on certain routes.

Nearly 14,000 private buses remained off the streets as part of the agitation, which began at 6 am, after talks between the association and government failed to resolve the issue, officials said.

Hundreds of passengers, travelling to their hometowns for the Durga Puja festivities from the state, were seen waiting in long queues at different bus stands and terminals since early morning.

Association general secretary Debendra Sahu said though the Odisha government during a meeting on October 9 had assured that buses under the Location Accessible Multimodal Initiative (LAccMI) will not ply from the blocks to districts, “the promise has not been kept”.

Odisha Transport Minister Tukuni Sahu had appealed to 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 on 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 on 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 on Thursday.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had earlier this month launched the affordable bus service under LaccMI, which aims to connect all the gram panchayats with the 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.