Goemkarponn desk
PANAJI/ CANACONA – The business which many thought to be as a profitable one, the Covid-19 which struck the world unannounced has broken the backbone of the private bus owners in Goa and today they are staring at a huge mountain of debts to say the least.
Normally any transportation business is unpredictable as there are many variable input costs, the spiralling costs of fuel, tires, spare parts, lubricants and insurance amongst others things are driving the private bus owners out of the business since last year most private bus owners complained.
As if the Covid-19 pandemic related restrictions were not enough, the unprecedented increase in cost of fuel and other inputs has broken the backbone of the public transportation business system in Goa which thrived post liberation they said.
They say that they have serviced the commuters of the state diligently even the profit margins were low in this business and today they are expecting the government to bail them out of the current crisis they are facing.
Many said that they have taken their buses out of the route and they are rusting in the garages as the passengers are so less its become difficult to break even.
The situation was never good for us but we survived somehow till the pandemic hit everyone but since last more then one year this mounting losses have driven us to bankruptcy they said.
“Most of us have bank loans to pay and we are not in any position to pay the instalments since last one year, government has to come to our rescue otherwise this will drive us to a point of no return exclaimed Mohamad a bus owner from Margao.
This has led to laying off of drivers and conductors and together with the bus owners they also are living a hand to mouth existence and their savings are exhausted many complained.
A look at the major bus stands in Goa is enough to understand the predicaments of the private bus owners as once these bus stands were a hustle and bustle of activity with people getting down and others waiting to reach their destinations, now has a few people.
The government latest restrictions of not allowing more than 50 percent of the capacity in the buses have further put a spoke into their dwindling fortunes.
The main reason for the fall in footfalls in their buses is attributed to commuters choosing their own vehicles to reach their destinations as they feel that they might contract the Covid-19 virus from fellow passengers.
With the second wave affecting India in general and Goa in particular it looks like there is no immediate hope for them as they helplessly wait for the government to offer them a helping hand otherwise the trade which helped Goa to commute will disappear for forever felt Anil Bhagat a social activist and thinker from Canacona.
A sharp dip in the number of passengers due to travel restrictions and spiraling fuel prices have pushed the bus operators into an unprecedented crisis.
Most private bus owners in the state are yet to come out of the shock of the first lockdown and now with the fresh restrictions of plying buses with only 50 per cent capacity, the bus transport business has taken a further hit.
With many bus owners not being in a capacity to spend on fuel or pay wages, many drivers and conductors have been rendered jobless, compelling them to look for other occupations.
All Goa Bus Owners’ Sudip Tamankar said that buses that will ply from Sat onwards on rotational basis.
“Total 1,460 buses & 100-125 will ply regularly on rotational basis. He added that Goa Govt has not provided them any financial help & have taken this decision on their own,” he said.
