Kolkata, June 25 -- With Digha set to witness its first grand Rath Yatra celebrations, the state Transport department is stepping up efforts to handle the expected surge in tourist and pilgrim footfall. Nearly 200 government-run buses will ply to the seaside town from different parts of the state ahead of the event.

Transport officials said that in addition to regular services, special buses have been introduced by all three state transport undertakings: the West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC), South Bengal State Transport Corporation (SBSTC) and North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC).

The SBSTC is set to operate 20 additional buses over and above its existing 100 regular services. These special services will run between June 26 and June 29 from multiple locations across South Bengal to Digha.

To cater to long-distance travellers, the NBSTC had already launched six Volvo bus services in late May, connecting districts in North Bengal to Digha. Among them, a weekly Volvo bus from Siliguri departs every Thursday, travelling via Raiganj, Malda, Baharampur, Krishnanagar and Kolkata, before reaching Jagannath Dham in Digha on Friday. It starts its return journey to Siliguri the same day.

Building on this network, NBSTC will operate five additional special services between Kolkata and Digha during Rath Yatra. "Two non-Volvo buses will leave Kolkata on Thursday night (June 26), and three more services will operate on Friday," said Dipankar Piplai, Managing Director of NBSTC.

At a high-level meeting held at the Maidan tent on Monday, Transport minister Snehasis Chakraborty directed officials to ramp up services starting Thursday. Minister of State for Transport Dilip Mondal, Transport Secretary Soumitra Mohan and other senior departmental officials were also present.

"Most government and private bus seats to Digha during the Rath Yatra period are already booked. We had to scale up services to ensure people don't miss the opportunity to witness Digha's first major Rath Yatra celebration," said a senior transport official. He added that private bus operators have also been requested to enhance their services.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.