Howrah ferry services were suspended indefinitely from Wednesday after workers of the Hooghly River Water Transport Cooperative Society began a strike over two months of unpaid salaries and pending Puja bonuses, disrupting travel between Howrah and Kolkata during the festive period.
The work stoppage affected about 14 ferry ghats in Howrah, including services used by passengers travelling through Howrah railway station. Workers had demonstrated at the ferry ghat near the station on Tuesday, alleging that the salary arrears had created severe financial pressure for employees and their families ahead of Puja.
The affected network connects Howrah with several destinations on the Kolkata bank of the Hooghly, including Golabari, Shobhabazar, Baghbazar, Chandpal Ghat, Armenian Ghat and Princep Ghat. Services also operate on the Howrah-Bauria and Nurpur waterways. The suspension has therefore affected both regular passengers and visitors travelling across the river to see Puja installations.
Workers said around 250 people are employed by the cooperative. They claimed that the 14 ferry ghats generate several lakh rupees in ticket revenue during the Puja period alone and argued that the income could have been used to clear the pending salaries. The workers began the indefinite strike after an earlier warning and stopped services from Wednesday afternoon.
The disruption is particularly significant because ferry services provide an alternative to road and rail routes between Howrah and Kolkata. Passengers arriving at Howrah station who normally use the river crossing now have to rely on other modes of transport, although the report did not provide details of additional arrangements or the scale of delays on alternative routes.
The cooperative is currently operating without an elected board of directors. An assistant registrar of cooperative societies from the Howrah district cooperative department is serving as its administrator. This administrative arrangement is central to the dispute because responsibility for managing the cooperative and clearing employee dues lies within a system where the elected management is not currently in place.
A senior official holding additional responsibility for the cooperative’s elected board had said on Tuesday that the Kolkata Port Trust, the state transport department and the zilla parishad receive substantial rent from the cooperative. According to the official, those dues would have to be settled first, after which employee salaries could be paid. The issue of the Puja bonus, however, had not been resolved.
The cooperative did not provide a further response after the services were withdrawn, according to the report. No official timeline for resuming Howrah ferry services was announced, leaving commuters and Puja visitors without clarity on when the river routes will reopen.
