Nalanda e-rickshaw operators oppose ring bus services

BIHARSHARIF: Hundreds of e-rickshaw operators in Biharsharif blocked NH-33 near Chora Bagicha locality under Laheri police station area on Thursday to demand immediate withdrawal of ring buses which started plying between Rajgir Mor and Sohsarai on Wednesday.
The two 52-seater buses initially introduced by BSRTC to make 40 trips between Rajgir Mor and Sohsarai from 6 am to 7pm everyday has threatened the very existence of e-rickshaws and autorickshaws on this route as the commuters have to pay only Rs 8 as bus fare against a minimum of Rs 6 and a maximum of Rs 20 charged by them, said Tarun Kumar, member, district transport association.
Dilshad Karim, Abhay Kumar and others said the buses are comfortable and the fare is less than half compared to smaller vehicles which consume lot of time to commute and have added to the traffic snarls of the town.
Nalanda district transport authorities could not be contacted to confirm whether the buses made 40 trips on Thursday on not.
The agitators, who were pacified by the police threatened to launch a bigger stir if the town bus services were not immediately withdrawn. They said that town bus service will render many of them jobless. Most of them have purchased their rickshaws on loan from banks and the biggest challenge before them will be to repay it.