West Bengal’s ‘Unlock-1’ phase from June 1 hits the transport road block
The West Bengal government’s attempt to gradually unwind the lockdown is set to face transportation hurdles in the state with suburban passenger trains and metros to remain off the tracks, and private bus operators deciding not to hit the roads.
The West Bengal government’s attempt to gradually unwind the lockdown is set to face transportation hurdles in the state with suburban passenger trains and metros to remain off the tracks, and private bus operators deciding not to hit the roads.
The absence of adequate public transportation, besides crippling the functioning of businesses and offices, will make adherence to social distancing norms difficult as the skeletal government bus services will be overcrowded with passengers.
Already, passengers were seen running behind speeding government buses in a dangerous manner, and jostling against each other to get into the packed vehicles on Friday and Saturday as bus services became operational in 40 routes in Kolkata last week.
The beleaguered state government was the first to go off the block to announce the easing of lockdown curbs to reboot its economy, on Friday, a day before the central government came up with its ‘Unlock 1’ plan.
“With multiple crises in the state, we have decided to increase the state government’s workforce capacity from 50 to 70 per cent. Continuation of restoration work (post-cyclone Amphan) is one of the top priorities and this workforce increase will ensure that public services are uninterrupted and unhindered,” Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, explaining the rationale behind the move.
The decision to lift the curb was not easy as the number of positive cases in the state continues to spike, a senior bureaucrat said. In the past 24 hours, 371 new cases of COVID-19 were detected in the state, recording the highest ever single-day surge.
That the state government had a double mind about the contour of the relaxation became apparent when the chief minister revised the earlier decision to increase the staff strength in government offices to 100 per cent.
Earlier, Banerjee had asked people to learn to live with the coronavirus, which has infected a few people even in Kolkata’s Harish Chatterjee Street, where the chief minister’s residence is located. The locality is also home to her relatives, including her nephew and MP, Abhishek Banerjee.
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“Corona ke niye ghuman. Corona ke pashbalish kore nin (learn to sleep with corona. Make corona your side pillow,” she told a press conference on Friday, almost sounding defeatist.
The lockdown had become difficult to sustain as the state was incurring a cumulative monthly loss of ₹5,000 crore, as reported earlier by The Federal.
The West Bengal government, as of now, has decided to extend the lockdown in containment zones only up to June 15 even as the Centre stretched it till June 30.
To resume economic activities, the state government has announced a two-phased reopening process, beginning Monday (June 1). Markets, public transportation, religious places, industries, including the film industry were allowed to resume functioning outside the high-risk zones from June 1.
Shopping malls, restaurants, hotels and all private offices are allowed to resume operation from June 8 with full strength on the conditions of following social distancing protocols.
In containment zones, however, there will be no relaxation. With 286 and 76 containment zones in the state’s two business hubs of Kolkata and Howrah respectively, economic activities would continue to suffer.
The biggest challenge to Banerjee’s effort to normalise life, however, has been posed by the bus operators.
The unwinding process would come to a naught if public transportation is not available, said Pradip Dutta, a former official of the West Bengal Transport Corporation.
On Sunday, private bus operators, barring a few minibus owners, made it clear that they would not run services unless the fare is hiked. The association of bus operators held marathon meetings throughout the day as pressure mounted on them from the government to find a compromise.
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The operators decided to meet the chief minister on Tuesday with their demands, stating that with the existing fare structure, it will not be feasible for them to run services, more so as the state government has strictly prohibited carrying passengers more than the sitting capacity.
“No passenger will be allowed to travel standing and all passengers must wear masks and gloves,” the government had said.
The minimum bus fare in the state is ₹7. The owners want it doubled to ₹14 with an additional ₹5 after every two kms. But at Sunday’s meetings, the associations could not arrive at an agreement over the proposed hike, and had left it to the government to decide.
The bus operators also want that the police, and not their own staff, should see to it that safety protocols are adhered to by the passengers.
The private operators, with a state-wide fleet of over 45,000 buses, ferry around 85 per cent road passengers, with government buses catering to only 15 per cent of the demand.
Naturally, the bus associations’ decision to pull off the road has put many like Montu Das in a fix. Das works as a salesman at a garment store in the iconic New Market at Lindsay Street. He stays in Sonarpur, almost 36 km away from his workplace.
“Earlier, I used to avail metro services from Garia to Esplanade to reach the shop. In the absence of metro services, I will have to take a bus ride,” Das said. But since there will be no private buses, Das expects a mad rush to board the limited government buses.
Even share autos are carrying more than the mandatory two passengers, taking full advantage of the demand-supply imbalance.
The demand for buses has further increased, particularly in Kolkata, in the absence of two other modes of mass public transportation — suburban trains and metros.
The suburban railway operates 1,497 train services daily, carrying 35 lakh people mostly to and from suburbs of the city. The Kolkata metro runs 284 trips per day, carrying seven lakh passengers.
Private buses remaining off the road will mean the first phase of Unlock 1 in the state is likely to be less responsive and more chaotic.
Meanwhile, the management committees of the Dakshineswar Kali Temple, Tarapith, Belur Math, and many other temples and shrines have decided not to open doors for devotees yet, despite the government’s go-ahead.
Similarly, the Bengal Imam’s Association too, in a written communiqué to mosque committees and imams, has suggested that considering the present COVID-19 scenario in the state, it will be advisable not to open mosques for another month.
The film industry too, on Sunday, expressed its inability to resume work with a mandatory 35 per cent workforce from Monday, saying that it would need more time to work out the modalities to start shooting by adhering to the guidelines set by the government.
