22,000 taxis to go off road today

Bengal Taxi Association (BTA) is holding a protest with the shut of 22,000 out of 35,000 taxis in the city demanding a fare hike.

With BTA going ahead with the 24-hour strike transport minister Madan Mitra on Tuesday made last-ditch attempts to ensure that cabs aligned to rival association stay on road on Wednesday. Calcutta Taxi Association secretary Tarak Nath Bari, who assured Mitra that its cabs would hit the roads, claimed the minister had promised to take care of their woes within a month.

"We are giving the government some more time to fulfill our demands. We have asked for permission to place advertisements on taxis, allow lunch breaks for drivers and hike fares," Bari said. Progressive Taximen's Union and Calcutta Metropolitan Taxi Drivers' Union have also promised to keep taxis on the road.

Iterating the demand for higher fare, BTA general secretary Bimal Guha said the government also needed to ensure an end to police atrocities on drivers. "We had called a 48-hour strike, but since this is the holy month of Ramzan, we have reduced the stir to 24 hours," Guha said.

Unable to prevent the strike, the minister dubbed it as a "CPM conspiracy to force the state government into a difficult situation". Mitra claimed he had prior information about attempts to ransack taxis that plied on Wednesday. "Let me warn the troublemakers that any violence will be dealt with sternly. The government won't tolerate any attack on taxis or passengers," Mitra said.

Mitra had earlier argued that fare hike would not solve the problem.