Bathinda, February 28
The dream of the people here, of having a city bus service, has once again turned sour as the state government has ignored this fast-growing town while introducing such service in three other cities of Punjab.
Several people whom this correspondent contacted felt “betrayed” over the government not fulfilling its commitment. They alleged that the department concerned was taking the commuters here for granted and giving them just fake assurances in view of the forthcoming Municipal Corporation elections.
One Deepak Kumar of Naamdev Nagar here said, “The promises are nothing but the ploy to lure the voters in view of the upcoming MC elections.”
Bathinda has been termed as speedily growing city of the state. But in the absence of local buses, people here are forced to commute through rickshaws and private vehicles only. The 28 passenger shelters built across the city a few years ago are in dilapidated condition now as the city bus service was yet to be introduced.
The MC authorities had made promise of introducing a city bus service here. In 2005, the department concerned even prepared the proposal to launch the service but it was put under the carpet as nothing has matured so far.
The department of local government has today inserted a notice in newspapers whereby it has invited proposals from bus operators for financing, procurement, running, operation and maintenance of city buses on specified routes under city bus services project for Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana.
In the advertisement, the department has mentioned innovations regarding GPS system, pass system and electronic ticket vending machines.
The people who failed to see the name of their city in the advertisement, have now raised their voice against the alleged ‘ignorant’ attitude of the government.
On his part, the Bathinda MC commissioner, K.K. Yadav, said, “A resolution has been submitted to the principal secretary of our department to launch the scheme here.”
Replying to a query about the repeated promises made to the residents of the city, he disclosed that it would take time as the process was only in its first stage as even the preliminary survey had not yet been completed.”
The Punjab minister for local government, Manoranjan Kalia, when contacted, said, “A survey was in progress to check the feasibility of the project. The bus service would start only if the routes are economically beneficial.”
The dream of the people here, of having a city bus service, has once again turned sour as the state government has ignored this fast-growing town while introducing such service in three other cities of Punjab.
Several people whom this correspondent contacted felt “betrayed” over the government not fulfilling its commitment. They alleged that the department concerned was taking the commuters here for granted and giving them just fake assurances in view of the forthcoming Municipal Corporation elections.
One Deepak Kumar of Naamdev Nagar here said, “The promises are nothing but the ploy to lure the voters in view of the upcoming MC elections.”
Bathinda has been termed as speedily growing city of the state. But in the absence of local buses, people here are forced to commute through rickshaws and private vehicles only. The 28 passenger shelters built across the city a few years ago are in dilapidated condition now as the city bus service was yet to be introduced.
The MC authorities had made promise of introducing a city bus service here. In 2005, the department concerned even prepared the proposal to launch the service but it was put under the carpet as nothing has matured so far.
The department of local government has today inserted a notice in newspapers whereby it has invited proposals from bus operators for financing, procurement, running, operation and maintenance of city buses on specified routes under city bus services project for Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana.
In the advertisement, the department has mentioned innovations regarding GPS system, pass system and electronic ticket vending machines.
The people who failed to see the name of their city in the advertisement, have now raised their voice against the alleged ‘ignorant’ attitude of the government.
On his part, the Bathinda MC commissioner, K.K. Yadav, said, “A resolution has been submitted to the principal secretary of our department to launch the scheme here.”
Replying to a query about the repeated promises made to the residents of the city, he disclosed that it would take time as the process was only in its first stage as even the preliminary survey had not yet been completed.”
The Punjab minister for local government, Manoranjan Kalia, when contacted, said, “A survey was in progress to check the feasibility of the project. The bus service would start only if the routes are economically beneficial.”
No comments:
Post a Comment