|
| Transport strike cripples city |
| Rajat Roy / Kolkata Jul 25, 2009, 00:18 IST |
|
Following a call for a state-wide 24 hours strike of the private commercial vehicles, bus, minibus and taxi went off the road today leaving the daily commuters with little options but to fend for themselves. For around 60 lakh commuters in and around Kolkata, the 2000 state buses, Metro, trams and circular railway were found to be inadequate. In anticipation of this chaos, the Calcutta University and Rabindra Bharati University had to postpone the examinations to August. Many schools have declared a holiday today for the want of school buses.
The strike was called by the transport operators demanding a stay on the court-imposed ban on all pre-1993 commercial vehicles, which will come into effect from August 1. The decision was taken by the Calcutta High Court after consultations with the operators and the state government to ban those polluting vehicles. Today, the operators moved the high court and pleaded for an interim stay on its earlier order. But the Division Bench of the chief justice of Calcutta High Court rejected it.
Now, the operators, under the banner of Committee to Save Commercial Transport, are planning to move the Supreme Court. The state government was guilty of failing to comply with an earlier court order to impose the ban after March 31. At that time, it pleaded before the court that it was election time and it would be better to postpone the implementation of the ban later. An irate court, while setting the cut off date anew to July 31, had cautioned the government not to come up with any more excuses.
Now, knowing the court's mind, the reluctant state transport minister Subhas Chakraborty has assured today that this time the government would implement the court order.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Read Business news in |  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Advertisements |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Content Guide
