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