In a huge relief for lakhs of bus passengers in the State, the All Odisha Private Bus Owners’ Association on Wednesday called off its indefinite State-wide strike after the State Government agreed to its demands.
Association spokesperson Debasis Nayak, after a general body meeting of the bus operators, said, “As the Government has accepted all our demands and assured us to take necessary steps, the association has decided to call off the strike.”
The bus operators were demanding toll exemption, clarification on route map of JNNURM city buses and also rollback of hike in motor vehicle tax among others.
However due to the bus strike earlier in the day, passenger had a harrowing experience at major bus stands like Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela, Brahmapur, Sambalpur and other places as the buses remained off the roads. But buses plied as usual in Jeypore as the local association didn’t join the strike.
Many of them were unaware of the strike were stranded and faced great inconvenience in reaching their destinations. Heavy rush was witnessed in the- Government buses. Taking advantage of the strike, small vehicles like auto-rickshaws charged exorbitant fares from the passengers.