Roads are not safe for pedestrians in the city, neither are moving buses for passengers.

A 44-year-old blind man was forced off a moving bus, while a 45-year-old woman fell down as the bus she was trying to board sped off without caring for her safety.

Both incidents — a day after a conductor kicked a woman off a moving bus — reflect the callousness of bus conductors and drivers towards commuters.

“The conductor grabbed my hand and forced me to get off the running bus. I was lucky to have survived,” recounted Harihar Sahu, a blind man (picture top by Bishwarup Dutta).

On his way to office, Sahu, an employee of the Alipore Mint, boarded a private bus on route 259 (WB-19 6720) at Taratala. The conductor at the rear door blocked his way and asked him to get off, saying the bus was “too crowded” for him.

Ignoring the pleas of Harihar, that he would get off at the next stop, the conductor forced him off the bus even as the bus was on the move.

“I have a handicap identity card issued by the government, which exempts me from paying the fare. Probably that’s the reason why I was not welcome on the bus,” said Sahu, a regular on the route for over 14 years.

But what surprised him the most was the indifference of his fellow-passengers as he was harassed and forced to get off. With the help of a youth, he noted down the bus number and informed a sergeant on duty of his plight.

Though the bus had sped off by then, it was intercepted at the next crossing and the conductor, Suman Dutta, was arrested on charges of assaulting a passenger.

Later in the day, an errant bus driver, Asish Sandhu, was arrested for rash and negligent driving.

Rizia Bibi (picture bottom by Amit Datta) had a narrow escape as she tried to board a private bus (WB-19 1275) on route 235 from the Rabindra Sadan-AJC Bose Road crossing. Rizia, along with husband Ziat Ali and brother Abdul Majid, had come to SSKM Hospital for treatment in the neurological department and was waiting for a bus to Sealdah to return to their Basirhat home.

“I got on to the bus, but before Rizia could board, the bus sped off. I saw her clinging to the iron rod in the rear door, but the bus kept moving on,” recounted Ziat.

Rizia held on to the iron rod till the heavy traffic on the stretch and screams from the passengers forced the driver to slam the brakes after dragging her around 150 feet. “She was lucky. She could have been crushed under the wheels,” said Ritesh Saha, a bystander.

As a crowd gathered and passengers got off, cops from the traffic guard arrived. The family was taken back to SSKM and the driver arrested.