12 bus operators arrested

The Orissa government today booked twelve agitating private bus operators under the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA). Out of them six were from Mayurbhanj, two from Bhadrak and four from Bhubaneswar.

The state government had clamped ESMA on Monday to rein in the private bus operators who under the banner of the All Orissa Private Bus Owners' Association (AOPBOA) had decided to continue their indefinite stir following failure of talks with the government.

Official sources said the state government would not succumb to the pressure tactics of the private bus owners even as these operators under AOPBOA are determined to carry on the agitation till the government invites them for negotiations.

Debasish Nayak, spokesperson, AOPBOA said, “We are going to continue our indefinite stir till the state government invites us again to the negotiations table and addresses our concerns. Instead of finding a solution to the problem, the government has invoked ESMA and arrested our members.”

Meanwhile, bus services in western and south Orissa were reported to be normal barring the services of long-distance buses. Efforts are now being made to restore long-distance bus services in these areas.

In Cuttack, the bus services were found to be partly operational.

Nayak admitted that some private buses were running in parts of western and South Orissa due to a communication gap among the members of AOPBOA and these bus services would be disrupted from this evening.

The strike by the private bus operators had badly hit the bus services in the state, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.

It may be noted that the AOPBOA had decided to continue its indefinite stir at its meeting held on Sunday. Their stir was against what they termed as exorbitant toll fee collected at the NH toll gates.

Earlier, the talks held between AOPBOA and the state government on Saturday fell through as a result of which the private bus operators decided to go ahead with their strike.

The private bus operators had started the agitation to protest the collection of toll by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on the National Highway (NH)-5 and NH-5A.