The prevailing heat wave has added to the challenges faced by the citizens of Kolkata. Apart from beating the heat, commuters are struggling during mid-day hours to find public transport as the number of private and minibuses turns to a trickle.

Several commuters availing buses between 12 pm to 4 pm complained of difficulties in getting one. Private and minibus operators, preferring to roll out restrained numbers of vehicles during peak heat hours, has added to the woes of the city commuters.

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The situation is worse for those having to step out for work-related commute or medical needs. Amit Jana, working at an insurance company and his job profile involving collection of documents from clients, had similar complaints today. “I was on a visit to the client’s house in Kalikapur.

I had to wait for almost 20 minutes in the scorching heat for a bus towards Park Street. I had a similar experience on Monday while availing a bus from Gangulibagan during mid-day.” Similar was the agony of Shruti Jain, a college student, who had to commute to Tollygunge from Kidderpore. “I have to attend classes in Tollygunge and the timings are from 2 pm to 4 pm.

While during the return journey, the commute is faster, reaching for classes on time has become a real struggle for me. There are hardly any buses during that time. In the past few days, there was hardly any day when I could avail a bus without having to wait for over 20 minutes,” rued the third-year student.

According to the general secretary of Bus Minibus Samannoy Samity, Rahul Chatterjee, there are fewer commuters during this time of the day. Therefore, operators and drivers are restraining buses from plying after 2 pm because of the fewer passengers and sweltering heat. Instead of operating five trips a day, drivers and operators prefer to ply three trips while skipping the mid-day trip.