Tallah bridge closure: 9 bus operators threaten suspension of

Operators of nine bus routes, all travelling to the northern and central parts of the city from the northern outskirts, on Sunday threatened to suspend their services from next week citing operational losses due to closure of Tallah Bridge to heavy vehicles. The over five decades old Tallah Bridge on B T Road was made out of bounds for heavy goods vehicles and buses, from September 28 following an inspection by experts.

As the restrictions made the buses taking a long detour through other routes leading to increased fuel consumption, it became imperative to immediately hike the bus fare or else the services will be stopped from next week, S Kar, a spokesman of newly formed 'North Kolkata Bus Forum', told reporters here. Kar said around 350 buses of nine routes will stop plying from next week if the transport department fails to act at the earliest to address the issue.

"The private bus industry has already turned sick due to rise in prices of fuel and spare parts. Now comes this restriction. If we have to survive, there has to be an immediate hike in fares to recover the cost," he said. A bus has to travel an additional 5 to 10 km on an average due to the developments, Kar claimed.

A transport department official said, "We will hold a meeting with the bus operators soon to discuss the issue." After the Majerhat bridge collapse in 2018, the PWD started making 'health audit' of several bridges including Tallah Bridge. Since the bridge is over rail tracks, experts from RITES were invited for their views and the decision to stop plying of heavy vehicles was taken..

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