With the July 31 deadline for the state government’s ban on polluting vehicles nearing, around 14 transport operators and owners today came together on a platform asking for an extension.

Operators, including those of buses and autos, and taxi unions took part in a protest today and will present a deputation to the transport department on Monday requesting the government to extend the deadline so that they could come up with alternative solutions. Else, they said, they would be forced to go on an indefinite strike.

“We want the government to defer the deadline and tell us how to go about the change. The government cannot afford to be callous as 1.5 lakh people will be hit directly or indirectly by the ban. It’s not just the buses and taxis but also commercial vehicles like KMC trucks that will be affected by the ban,” said Tarak Pramanik of Calcutta Taxi Association.

The protestors have also formed a Bannijjik Parivar Bachao Committee to which various transport operators are a part. “The government has taken a one-sided decision and it never consulted us before announcing it. If the transport minister does not provide an alternative, we will announce next week from when we will start our indefinite strike,” said Sadhan Das, president of Joint Council of Bus syndicate.

The operators also want the state government to give them an alternative so that they could meet the pollution norms while keeping their existing vehicles. “The state government has already provided the school buses with an alternative. They can merely install a device that can help control pollution without replacing the vehicle. We want the government to give us a similar deal as it is not possible to replace all the old vehicles,” said Swarnakamal Saha, secretary of Bengal Bus syndicate.

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