GUWAHATI: The transportation facilities across Guwahati have been hit owing to the trade bandh declared by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).
This has affected life in Guwahati with fewer city buses plying on the road. The Ganeshguri area was relatively empty with shops and other trade establishments closed. However, commuters were affected due to the lower number of city buses available for them in the peak hours of the early morning today.
In Lal Ganesh area of Guwahati, private vehicles were seen plying while commercial transport vehicles were off the road.
Private transportation facilities including Rapido, Uber were unavailable due to high demand in lieu of lack of buses.
G Plus spoke to Bhargav Borah, Secretary of All Assam Bike Taxi Operators' Union (AABTOU) who stated that Rapido bikes are operating normally.
"Due to the lack of city buses, the demand is too high and as such the commuters are facing difficulty in utilising the services," Borah added.
Meanwhile, another issue has been the utilisation of daily city buses for alleged political purposes. A highly placed source in the transport association revealed to G Plus that most city buses have been engaged to accommodate the visit by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Assam. As such, the number of buses plying on the roads have lessened leading to the aforementioned problems faced by the commuters.
The CAIT had declared a call for Bharat Bandh on February 26, in a protest against the "draconian" rules of Goods and Services Tax (GST). As such a 12-hour trade bandh for all establishments across India has been observed on February 26.