Guwahati: The indefinite Chakka Bandh called by the All Assam Motor Transport Association has begun on Monday in Assam. All inter-state private buses are off the road. City bus service too has been hit as all private transport operators have supported the strike.
The transporters have called for the strike to pressurize government to allow them to either hike passenger fares or find a solution to increase their earnings given the fact that fuel prices have gone up and in compliance with COVID protocol, they are having to run the services at half the capacity.
Prices of everyday essentials too has gone up and this is making life difficult for the transporters.
The transporters have been asking the government for some kind of assistance as the COVID lockdown had hit them hard and now running the services at 50 per cent capacity is bleeding them.
They had earlier requested the government to allow them to hike passenger fares but the government did not give the go ahead nor the government tried to address their problems.
Office goers in different parts of Guwahati who work in the outskirts of the city faced a lot of problem due to the strike.
"ASTC bus services have been provided in the city. But for people like us who work in places like Morigaon, Sonapur, Jagiraod there are no bus service yet. We have been waiting by the road side since 8am," Hriday Deka who works at a farm in Sonapur told Sentinel Assam.
Another lady who works in a Guwahati hospital said that she has been waiting at Ninth Mile since 8 AM and till 10 AM, she and seven other colleagues of her could not find a transport to reach the hospital.
People are facing a lot of problem because trackers, e-rickshaws and the Magic service or shared auto-service has also joined the strike and are off the road.
The Assam State Transport Corporation has introduced 250 ASTC buses to ply on the city streets and another 650 buses have been pressed into service for inter-district, intra-state services to ease the situation.
State Transport Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary is likely to meet the office bearers of Transport Association.