Jammu: Privately owned passenger bus operators held a massive protest on Wednesday in Jammu against the operation of Smart City e-buses. The transporters also announced one-day token strike on Thursday against operation of e-buses, which they alleged are affecting their livelihood.Ld by All Jammu and Transporter Welfare Association, many transporters assembled in Warehouse of Jammu city, raised slogans against administration for ‘illegally’ running e-bus service in various congested routes of Jammu.Vijay Singh Chib, President of the association, said that government and transporters have done an agreement to run e-buses on uncovered and less congested routes, but the administration unilaterally violated the agreement and start operations of e-buses in all busy routes, causing hardships to private transporters. He said earlier during introducing e-rickshaws, the government failed to address the issue of Auto owners, which rendered them unemployed.He said they have purchased their vehicles through loans, but as their livelihood gets affected, they won’t be able to pay the monthly installments.Another transporter said , “e- Buses are meant for uncovered areas of city, and if they want to ply on overpopulated route, the government should think about our livelihood too. This issue has severely affected our livelihood, and we are hardly earning bread and butter for our families”. The bus operators said that around 80 of their buses have been affected due to the issue and appealed Lieutenant Governor led administration to look into the issue—

Reader correspondent