The transport department will run special buses for puja shoppers on Saturdays, Sundays and government holidays till September 25, the state government has decided.
The buses will run between noon and 9pm and cover three key shopping zones of the city: Gariahat, Shyambazar and Esplanade.
“This is a service that the state government wants to extend to all puja shoppers so that they can commute comfortably during the festive season,” Snehasis Chakraborty, West Bengal’s transport minister, said on Monday. “These will be non-AC buses and they will ply on nine routes.”
The routes of the “puja shopping special” buses, to be run by the West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC), will include Howrah station, Parnasree, Behala Chowrasta, Deshapriya Park, Hatibagan, Dunlop, Sodepur and Barrackpore.
“The fares will be the same as non-AC government buses. On an average, each bus will make three trips on these days,” said a senior official of the transport department.
“The services will be available till Mahalaya, which falls on September 25.”
The Telegraph has reported how thousands of shoppers flocked to malls and markets on Sunday braving the humid weather.
Retailers said sales had jumped around 30 per cent compared with September last year when the Covid fear was palpable. Metro Railway has been running additional trains on weekends to tackle the shoppers’ rush.
On Monday, several shop owners said the footfall was likely to go up further as the Puja draws closer. “We have finalised the routes in a manner that the puja shopping specials will cover faraway pockets, including the Taratala intersection and Tollygunge Phari in the south, and Barrackpore, Sodepur and Titagurh in the north,” the official said.
“We have identified a spot opposite Oberoi Grand for those willing to avail themselves of the buses connecting Esplanade to Howrah station.”
Officials said the Gariahat-Parnasree route will cover Deshapriya Park, Rashbehari crossing, Tollygunge Phari and the Taratala crossing. The Shyambazar-Barrackpore route will cover Sodepur, Chiria More and Dunlop.
“The routes will cover various Metro stations, including Kalighat, Rabindra Sadan, Central and Girish Park,” the official said.
There will be six trips a day on the Esplanade-Howrah station route, the shortest of all routes. On the longest route, connecting Shyambazar to Barrackpore, there will be two trips a day.