Third fuel-price hike in 10 days prompts commute change in city

Kolkata: The third consecutive hike in petrol and diesel prices in 10 days is forcing many car owners to consider switching over to public transport for daily commute. Many people who drove to their workplaces in their own cars till Saturday have decided that they will use public transport, especially Metro and AC buses, to go to workplaces from Monday to cut down on use of their own cars - a way out for them to stave off "fuel burns" in their pockets.On Saturday, the petrol price jumped to Rs 110.64 and diesel price to Rs 97.02 per litre. In the past 10 days, the per litre fluctuations of petrol prices hovered between Rs 105.41 and Rs 110.64, while the diesel price fluctuated from Rs 92.02 to Rs 97.02 during the same period. In a bid to keep pace with the skyrocketing fuel prices, people are changing their commute plans."Yesterday I tanked up petrol in my car, paying Rs 109.66 per litre, but on Saturday I woke up to the shock that the price was hiked again by 98 paisa. The distance between my office at Sector V and home at Jadavpur is about 15 km, and driving my own car for commute between the two won't be viable for me any longer. I have decided to travel in public transport like AC bus from Monday," rued Arijit Dutt, a tech firm employee.Tollygunge resident Sandip Sarkar is also set to travel in the Metro, instead of his own car, for his commute to office in Park Street. "My home is about 3 km away from Tollygunge Metro station. During peak hours buses and the Metro remain jam-packed, so I use my own car for office commute. Given the rising fuel cost, I have made up my mind to switch over to public transport from Monday as the fuel cost is already burning a hole in my pocket," he said.Some motorists are drawing up a new routine to keep their office commute expense within limits. Saptarshi Bhose, a resident of Prince Anwar Shah Road, said, "With petrol prices increasing, I've decided to commute to the office by Metro three days a week and use the car only two days a week to reduce expenses." Maniktala resident Jayita Biswas, a school teacher in Amtala, rued, "Though I have been used to commuting in my own car, I shall not be able to do so in the coming week because of the rising petrol price." Laketown resident Ankur Das, who is into construction chemicals business and needs to visit different sites across the city, is in a fix with the repeated hike in fuel price. "First I thought I would go for an e-vehicle. But the price of EVs is also on the rise. I am rethinking my commute option," he said.Some bikers also shared their plans of adopting public transport as much as possible to tackle the fuel price pinch. Rubai Bhattacharya, a resident of Taltala who works in a logistics firm's office at Survey Park, said, "Using buses or the Metro is the only option for me to stave off fuel prices burning a hole in my pocket now. I don't want to use my bike for office commute until the fuel price become affordable for me once again."