The Department of Transport of West Bengal is a

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

of the Bengal government. It is responsible for the provision of transport facilities and infrastructure on road, inland water and air – within the domain of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

. It also provides administrative and legal framework for the same. Its activities span issuing of licences and permits, registration of vehicles, issuance of permits, operation of public transport services, development of transport infrastructure and promotion of private sector investment in the sector. State Transport Undertakings provide transport facilities in the state. The

West Bengal Transport Corporation West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) is a West Bengal state government undertaken corporation. It plies buses, trams and ferries in the state. It was formed by merging existing state transport agencies, namely the Calcutta State Transpo ...

(WBTC) renders transport services within the capital city of

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

and its suburban areas. The

South Bengal State Transport Corporation South Bengal State Transport Corporation (SBSTC) is a West Bengal state government undertaken transport corporation. It plys buses in South Bengal and other parts of West Bengal to Durgapur and Kolkata. SBSTC owns many depots in West Bengal to s ...

(SBSTC) looks after transport services in the districts of

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

and South-Western Bengal while transport facilities in the districts of

North Bengal North Bengal ( bn, উত্তরবঙ্গ/উত্তর বাংলা) is a term used for the north-western part of Bangladesh and northern part of West Bengal. The Bangladesh part denotes the Rajshahi Division and Rangpur Division. Gen ...

are primarily dependent on

North Bengal State Transport Corporation North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) is a state government run transport corporation in West Bengal, India. It plies buses mainly in North Bengal but operates services to other parts of West Bengal and neighboring states like Si ...

(NBSTC).

Headquarters

The department operates from Paribahan Bhawan, the building earlier housing the headquarters of the

Calcutta Tramways Company Calcutta Tramways Company (CTC) was a state-run company that operated trams and buses in and around Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta) in West Bengal, India. The Kolkata tram is the only operating tramway in India and is the oldest electric t ...

. It oversees the Public Vehicles Department, in essence the Regional Transport Office (RTO) for the city. In addition to that, there are RTOs in each of the

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

which are usually located at the

District Magistrate (India) A District Collector-cum-District Magistrate (also known as Deputy Commissioner in some states) is an All India Service officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) cadre who is responsible for ''land revenue collection'', ''canal reven ...

's office precincts. Within the department is its functional, executive arm called the Transport Directorate. It operates out of Paribahan Bhavan-2 (First Floor) at Kasba, near Ruby Junction on the

EM Bypass The Eastern Metropolitan Bypass (known simply as both ''E.M. Bypass'' and ''EM Bypass'') is a (Including Kamalgazi to Baruipur extension) major road on the east side of Kolkata. It connects Ultadanga (North Kolkata) to Baruipur Puratan Baz ...

since 2 November, 2016. The department team is headed by the Cabinet Minister for Transport, who may or may not be supported by Ministers of State. Civil servants are assigned to them to manage the ministers' office and ministry. The current head of the ministry is

Mamata Banerjee Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current List of chief ministers of West Bengal, chief minister of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal since 20 ...

, the chief minister of West Bengal, since 28 November 2020.

References

{{reflist Transport in West Bengal Government departments of West Bengal