Defunct bus routes of Salt Lake and New Town will be remembered and a protest against vanishing public buses will be lodged not through slogans and posters but through planting of trees and showcasing of souvenirs.

Three reserved buses will travel bearing route cards of 44A, 47 and 239 from Kasba to tank 12 in Salt Lake, stopping at various bus terminals across the township, on Saturday. “This will be a journey of nostalgia to celebrate the lost bus routes of Salt Lake,” said Aniket Banerjee, general secretary of Kolkata Bus-o-pedia, a registered organisation of bus lovers. The event, titled Bus Yatra, is being organised by Kolkata Bus-o-pedia along with City Suburban Bus Service.

Tickets on buses on route 206 down the years. Souvik Roy

“While 44A is one of the oldest extant bus routes of Salt Lake, route 239 made a comeback after a tough period in 2019-20. But route 47, one of the early routes of New Town connecting Lake Town to Uniworld City in Action Area III via Jessore Road, Belgachhia, Shyambazar, Khanna, and Ultadanga, is gone. We will use a bus running on the 47B route, with a changed routecard,” Banerjee said.

He said the organization mooted the idea of focusing on the area as they get a barrage of complaints on their social media page about the lack of public buses in the township. “Route 235 has stopped entering Salt Lake. Route 71, which is supposed to pass through Sector I and II, is still being terminated ahead of Salt Lake despite a court order. Old buses, like those on the Mourigram to Salt Lake route, will be defunct if there is no replacement of vehicles. We also wanted to include a government bus like MW1, connecting Jadavpur to Uniworld City, but no bus could be found as the route has ceased to exist,” said Banerjee.

A Hico air-conditioned bus ticket. (Right and left) A 50p ticket for route 215A and a Rs 7 ticket for route K2 respectively Souvik Roy

He goes on to list other routes which have become history. “K2 was a popular route, from Karunamoyee to the airport. K5 plied from Joka to Labony. JM1, under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, went from Dhulagarh to Karunamoyee via Dakshineswar, airport and New Town. Not any more.”

He is aghast at the thought of a premium route like 206 which has lent its name to the bus stop ceasing to exist. Buses on other routes use the terminus in AJ Block now.

On the bygone list are several minibuses too — Jadavpur-Purbachal, Salt Lake-Howrah station via Sealdah, Howrah Belgachhia to Sector V. “There are no buses on these routes for us to hire on the day. Our tree plantation will be in memory of all these lost routes. We will put up banners naming them,” Banerjee said.

Trees will be planted along the way at the depot of route 239 and at the route 260 bus stand at Sirishtola near Uniworld City in New Town. Talks are under way to find a spot at the Karunamoyee bus depot too. “We are buying 10 trees. We plan to plant two at every bus stand we cover,” he said.

The other feature of the rally will be an exhibition on the move of bus tickets and other souvenirs, which will be put up inside one of the three buses. “Bus is the most difficult topic to archive among all modes of public transport as there are no records. There are different routes numbered the same in private and public sectors. The state bus tickets look identical. There is no chance to lay one’s hand on tickets of abandoned routes, not even on visiting the presses where such tickets would be printed,” collector Souvik Roy listed the challenges.

He has a collection of souvenirs on tramways from 1924 till now and also on Metro. He still promises to showcase the history of public buses in Calcutta on the day, through the evolution of tickets starting from 10p. Other site-specific highlights include tickets of Hidco buses which, he points out, are a rarity now. “The impact of the rapid transit system, with autos feeding Metros, has been disastrous on buses and trams. But autos and totos mean chaos and congestion. Trams from Chetla to Tollygunge have been disbanded and autos are allowed to run on the route in three parts, escalating cost from Rs 7 to about Rs 40 for the break journey,” laments the hobbyist, who calls himself a record-keeper.

Tito Saha, general secretary of City Suburban Bus Service, a bus owners’ association, welcomed the initiative by bus lovers. “At a time when we are cornered by autos and totos, it is heartening to see that such a group of commuters and enthusiasts has come forward to talk about our bus trade. When The lockdown was announced in 2020, diesel cost Rs 64.65 a litre. Today it is touching Rs 92. Yet the government is unwilling to hike ticket price, which is our only way of income. On top of that, they are forcing financial burdens on us like the Vehicle Location Tracking Device, which costs Rs 8-9,000. Police cases have increased. Where will we raise the money to hike salaries of our staff who too have to buy potato at Rs 40 a kg? One has to remember that it is the bus that is the primary mode of transport for the common man,” he argued.

This is the second edition of Bus Yatra, the first having showcased the routes of Howrah last year.