GUWAHATI, Nov 17 ? Normal life in the State was severely affected today due to the 24-hour chakka bandh called by passenger and goods carrying vehicle operators from 6 am. The operators, led by the All Assam Motor Transport Association (AAMTA), are demanding a 70 per cent hike in fares owing to the sharp increase in petrol and diesel prices in the country over the past couple of years.
Passenger buses, trucks, light commercial vehicles and taxis were off the roads in the State, including the capital. However, autorickshaws plied on the streets of Guwahati with the Greater Guwahati Autorickshaw Association (GGAA) ignoring the AAMTA appeal to join the strike. The GGAA has extended moral support to the agitation.
?The strike is total as far as trucks and buses are concerned,? said Pradip Das, the AAMTA secretary general while speaking to The Assam Tribune this evening. He said that all commercial vehicle operators have responded to the chakka bandh call except for some autorickshaw operators in Guwahati. The AAMTA supporters, however, did not obstruct the auto rickshaw operators.
?We told our members not to stop the autorickshaw operators,? said Das, adding that the auto rickshaw operators should have actively supported the agitation. He stated that the autorickshaw operators were as badly affected by the increase in petrol and diesel prices.
The only buses that plied across the State today were the ones belonging to the Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC). But the 1,400 private buses operating under the ASTC banner did not report for duty severely straining the Corporation?s services.
ASTC managing director RC Jain told this paper in the evening that the 300 ASTC-owned buses, both long distance and intra city, were on the roads and operated as usual. Asked whether there was any extra strain on the ASTC services, Jain said that though there was some rush, it was not as much as expected as fewer people travelled today knowing about the chakka bandh.
In the State capital, people were left stranded in city bus stands with the ASTC city bus service proving woefully inadequate to meet the rush. Attendance in educational institutions and offices were poor as people had a hard time in commuting. The autorickshaw drivers made the most of the opportunity, fleecing people by charging fares according to their whims. Cycle rickshaw-pullers also made hay.
A huge rush was witnessed at the Guwahati railway station with people being forced to make use of trains to travel even short distances. Hundreds of long-distance travellers were also seen at the ASTC bus stand, trying to get that prized ASTC bus ticket to their destinations. The only saving grace was that people were able to reschedule their travel plans as the chakka bandh was announced days earlier.
Meanwhile, there is still no indication of a breakthrough in the ongoing tussle with the government maintaining a stoic silence on the demand of the commercial vehicle operators. Apart from the mechanical appeal to withdraw the chakka bandh agitation, the authorities have not come out with any concrete proposal. AAMTA?s Pradip Das said that there have been no feelers from the authorities after yesterday?s failed talks between AAMTA representatives and the State transport commissioner.
?We will carry forward our agitation,? said Das, referring to the planned 48-hour chakka bandh from November 21 to 23 and a 72-hour one from November 27 to 30. If today?s chakka bandh is any indication, the coming days are bound to be worse.