With the August deadline for phasing out 15-year-old commercial vehicles approaching, the West Bengal Bus & Minibus Owners' Association has urged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to grant a two-year extension for these vehicles.

In a letter to the CM, the association highlighted that nearly 2,000 buses and minibuses, which continue to ply on August 1 or later in Calcutta and Howrah, will be forced off the roads due to exceeding the age limit set for pollution standards.

The owners, battling financial struggles in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent lockdowns, are unable to afford the new BS-6 compliant vehicles, they said.

"May we request a brief audience to discuss measures to revive the struggling bus and minibus industry? We have been urging the transport department to extend the 15-year deadline by an additional two years. Many of these vehicles were off the roads during the lockdown, and as a result, did not contribute to vehicular pollution during that period. Granting a two-year extension would allow these vehicles to continue operating," said Pradip Narayan Bose, general secretary of the association.

Bose, in the letter, also appealed to the state government to consider the hardships faced by thousands of families dependent on private bus and minibus services.

Starting August, more than 80 per cent of the 30,000 stage carriages operating in the city and surrounding districts will be off the roads due to the 15-year age limit imposed by a 2009 Calcutta High Court order, which is aimed at reducing environmental pollution.

Transport Minister Snehasis Chakraborty had earlier told PTI that while the government is sympathetic to the challenges faced by the private bus and minibus operators, it is constrained by the need to enforce the high court order.

He had suggested that the bus owners should approach the court directly to present their plea.

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