• Fewer than usual buses on roads and big crowds at stops
• Sharp drop in the OPD footfall and the number of planned surgeries
• Supply of vegetables and fruits is likely to be affected

As the poll day comes closer, the city is going into a pause mode. Here is how Calcuttans are going through the countdown to the Saturday elections.

Transport

Buses were few and far between on Wednesday, forcing many commuters to wait for long at several bus stops across the city.

If the morning was tough, the evening was tougher with bus operators on many routes connecting the city with the suburbs withdrawing
their fleet.

“A few buses on the Baruipur-Barasat route were on the roads during the day. I had to wait about 40 minutes for a bus on this route in the evening,” said Narayan Ghosh, a Barasat resident, who boarded the bus from the Ruby crossing on EM Bypass.

Similar scenes unfolded at the Hazra crossing, Camac Street-AJC Bose Road intersection, Chiria More and Sealdah, and along Lenin Sarani. Government buses arrived after long intervals and private buses on most routes were missing.

On route 234 (between Golf Green and Belgharia), all 46 buses have been requisitioned for Saturday’s polls, said an officer of Kolkata Police. Similarly, all 60 buses of route 230 (between the Alipore zoo and Kamarhati) have been withdrawn for poll duty.

“Almost all buses of different routes covering parts of Baranagar, Barrackpore, Belgharia, Khardah and Kamarhati have been requisitioned for the elections. Most of them will have to start reporting at the designated centres from Thursday evening,” said Pradip Narayan Bose of the West Bengal Bus and Minibus Owners’ Association.

“The shortage of buses will be felt from Thursday evening till almost Sunday.”

In the south, private bus and minibus operators said they had instructed their staff to turn up with their vehicles at various convergence points, such as the Alipore Bodyguard Lines, on Thursday for the poll duty.

Hospitals

Several hospitals are witnessing a sharp drop in footfall of patients at OPDs as well as
the wards. One reason is lack of public transport, said officials.

At Peerless Hospital, around 1,000 patients turn up at the OPDs every day. On Wednesday, the number was around 700, said officials.

“Lack of transport is one of the reasons for the low footfall,” said Sudipta Mitra, chief executive of Peerless Hospital. He said the number of planned surgeries have also gone down by 25 per cent.

“The bed occupancy is also very low now. Barely 300 out of the 500 beds are occupied,” said Mitra.

At the RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences, the OPD footfall was around 1,100 on Wednesday, compared with the average of 1,500.

“Because of the low footfall at OPD, the number of admissions and surgeries has also gone down. We are expecting the numbers to rise after the elections, from the second week of June,” said R. Venkatesh, group COO, Narayana Health, which runs the RN Tagore hospital.

Diminishing supply

Till Wednesday, there was no gap in the demand and supply of fruits and vegetables.

At Gariahat, Maniktala, Behala, Ultadanga and other markets, retailers said the supply of vegetables from districts has not yet hit. However, suppliers warned of a possible shortage from Friday, a day before the last phase of the elections, because fewer
vehicles are available to carry vegetables from North and South 24-Parganas and Hooghly.

Fruit supply to the markets, too, is likely to be hit for the same reason.

“Most vehicles have been taken over for the election process and the drivers have been asked to report for the poll duty on Friday. The supply won’t improve before Monday,” said Kamal Dey, of the West Bengal Vendors’ Association.

“There could be a rise in the price of vegetables and fruits because of the demand-supply mismatch,” said a wholesaler at Koley Market in Sealdah.