A group of private bus operators’ decision to stay off the roads for some hours on Monday had little impact on people in the city.

The government had kept a fleet of additional buses ready in case the need arose, an official in Nabanna said.

But there was no such need because the shortfall “wasn’t big enough”, the official said.

While most private buses plied across the city, people had to wait a little longer in some places at night, particularly on some stretches on the Bypass, and in Behala and Baruipur.

“It wasn’t a problem while going to office in the morning. There were enough buses,” Nilanjana Sen, a private bank employee who travels from Kasba to Dalhousie daily, said. “The waiting time was a little longer than the usual around 8pm. But buses were there.”

The Joint Council of Bus Syndicate, one of the largest body of private bus operators in the city, had called for a two-day protest — beginning Monday — by running buses only from 8am-11am and 3pm-7pm.

Diesel prices have shot up by almost Rs 10 since June when the government revised the fares by Re 1 across all slabs, members of the council had said while announcing the two-day protest.

Some bus operators wanted another fare revision in view of the fuel price rise. But the transport department shot down their demand, triggering the protest.

Besides Calcutta, buses plying across parts of North and South 24-Parganas were brought within the purview of the protest.

“We had made arrangements with additional buses. But they were not required in the morning. There were enough private buses on the roads,” Suvendu Adhikari, transport minister, said in the evening. “I don’t want to think about what these bus operators have to say or demand.”

While buses on all routes plied in the morning, those on routes 55A (Shibpur-Dharmatala), 34C (Noapara-Dharmatala) and 205A (Babughat-Bansdroni) did not leave the Babughat terminus in the afternoon.

“The rising price of diesel has left us on the brink. After paying the driver, conductor and helper, the returns are so low that it makes no sense in running buses,” an operator who runs buses on route 241A (Sodepur-Dharmatala) said. “Even the government has cut down on buses in the afternoon because of low demand.”

Transport department bosses said on Monday that private bus operators could not arm-twist their way at the cost of passengers every time.

“We have been running more buses across Calcutta. You can now see more government buses on roads,” a West Bengal State Transport Corporation official said. “Our officials will be present at control rooms on Tuesday to monitor the demand. If needed, we will ply the buses kept on standby.”

The council will wait till Tuesday to see what the government does before deciding on the next course of action, members of the council said.

Dharmatala, 6.24pm Bishwarup Dutta