With the July 25 deadline drawing closer, transport operators are seeing red and threatening to go off the roads on an indefinite strike.

While the government is planning to hold yet another round of talks on Friday, operators in the city are hoping for an amicable solution to the crisis. The government has so far made it clear that any polluting vehicle, older than 15 years, found on the road after July 25 would be confiscated.

“We will definitely start protesting from July 25 if Friday’s round of talks do not go well. We have already told the transport department that its directive will affect the lives — directly or indirectly — of about one crore people. The transport department has also promised to look into it again,” said Sadhan Ghosh, president, Joint Bus Syndicate.

So far the government wants to replace these old buses by a fleet of new buses, including Volvos, but Ghosh said they were opposing the move. “Those Volvos cost around 70 lakh each and other buses that the government is keen to purchase cost around Rs 20 lakh each. We want the government to replace them by cheaper models so that ordinary people will be able to afford traveling in these buses,” said Ghosh.

Most of the bus and taxi operators have also claimed that they are not pleased with the finance schemes that have been put forward by the government so far. “Both the central and the state governments are investing around 50 per cent of the finance but the state government wants the permit to be in its name — we are against that,” said Ghosh.

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