Kolkata: All 41 odd buses plying on route 239 and operating on two alignments – one connecting Shapoorji to Babughat and Salt Lake 12 number Tank to Babughat – have stopped plying from Monday throwing hundreds of regular passengers in the lurch.The bus union has claimed that there was a major disagreement between the bus workers and owners with bus workers claiming that the workers are refusing any trips post 6 pm saying there were no significant passengers after that.Sources claimed a meeting was held in this regard between both sides on Sunday that failed to break the dead lock and led both sides to lodge a complaint with New Town Police.“The bus workers are refusing to complete their assigned trips. The argument that there are no passengers after 6 pm makes little sense as we have loyal office time passengers boarding the bus from Lenin Sarani, Sealdah and Beleghata. If the bus owner has no control over his bus, where is the guarantee that we can get back any returns?” asked Titu Saha of City suburban Bus Service, the bus owners union to which route 239 is affiliated.Surajit Saha, general secretary of the Bengal Bus Syndicate, presented the bus owners’ grievances. He said a local labour union had forcibly halted operations. The owners accused the union of financial misconduct, alleging that several lakh rupees meant for bonuses for drivers and bus staff had been deposited with the organization. “However, the drivers never received the money. When the bonus funds were demanded back from the union, they were not returned. Following an argument over the issue, the bus service was suspended,” stated saha.The passengers claimed that after 45 and 46 services being hit earlier this year briefly, this disruption was uncalled for. “We received no notice of what was happening on this popular route. On monday, its absence was immediately felt. We usually get its service every 15-20 minutes. But on this day, we had no option but to search for alternatives. All buses from this side, especially S-12 which already runs full, ran packed. We were forced to change autos and reach Ultadanga before we could board a bus to the office at Moulali,” said Riju Sengupta, a resident of Shapoorji area.Priyanka Sarkar, another commuter from the Beleghata area who uses the bus to commute to Sector V, said she had no option but to look for a cab as the other buses were crowded “I got late reaching office as I kept waiting for 239. An internal issue cannot be the reason why commuters should suffer,” pointed out Sarkar.Route 239 had run into trouble multiple times for clubbing three routes – 239, 239A and 239B into one route – and plying in total disregard to route permissions received from RTO. Worse, it has buses winding up at Salt Lake and another set at Shapoorji but using the same route number. “There is a slight difference in using a white board and a blue board but not everyone is aware of the same,” said a commuter.
