ANGUL: Restriction on public transport due to the Covid second wave lockdown has thrown lives of private bus owners and employees out of gear in Angul. More than 1,000 employees along with over 300 private bus owners in the district are bearing the brunt of the lockdown for the second consecutive year. They have appealed to the government to bail them out of the crisis by providing financial help and waiving taxes.
Last year in March, most of them went out of work when the nation-wide lockdown was announced after the Covid-19 outbreak. Private bus staff usually earn between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 but now, they are in a state of penury. Expressing distress, Rabi Behera, a bus staff, said, “Our condition has become so precarious that we feel there is no way to sustain our families if alternate arrangements are not made. Not one bus is plying and I am unable to fend for basic needs of my family. I cannot even pay tuition fees of my children.” Behera also appealed for financial support from the government.
As per reports, while some of the bus employees have resorted to vending vegetables for a living, many are sustaining by borrowing money as they are still hopeful that the situation will become normal in a few days. Distressed bus owners are bearing double losses as without earning anything they have to take care of staff and maintenance of the vehicles.
President of the private bus owners association in Angul, Manas Samal said, “This is the second time we are facing lockdown within 15 months and the misery piled up just as were coping with the loss of the previous year. Recovering from such a crisis seems difficult. All our staff are sitting idle. We appeal to the government to waive tax and provide insurance cover to us.” Since the lockdown on May 5, no bus has been plying from Angul from where over 300 buses go to various destinations across the State including Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Keonjhar and Rourkela.