Calcutta, Dec. 9: Private buses and mini-buses will be off the road tomorrow on account of a Citu strike to protest stringent action against bus drivers involved in fatal mishaps.

State buses will not be a part of the one-day strike, said Citu state secretary Kali Ghosh. About 9,000 private buses and 2,500 minibuses ply in Calcutta.The strike call followed the arrest of several private and minibus drivers under the non-bailable charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Earlier, drivers involved in mishaps used to be charged with negligent and rash driving.

Mounting death toll in mishaps involving buses has prompted the government decision to prosecute drivers under the sterner charge. According to the government, the charge of negligent and rash driving, a bailable offence, had failed to act as a deterrent.

“Drivers alone are not responsible for mishaps; passengers and pedestrians lack traffic rule awareness. Bad road condition is one of the major reasons for fatal mishaps. So why should drivers be accused of culpable homicide and denied bail?” asked Subhas Mukherjee, the leader of the Citu-affiliated West Bengal Road Transport Workers Federation.

At Writers’ Buildings, state home secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti said on Tuesday that the state and city police would try to ensure that passengers travelling in state buses were not harassed or assaulted by the supporters of the strike. “Commuters will be able to use state transport to reach office or return home.”