BRTS buses continue to gather dust in city

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 27

Amid scorching heat when the temperature has soared to 46 degree Celsius, residents are forced to travel in autorickshaws despite the availability of around 80 air-conditioned buses which have been gather dust at the BRTS bus stand at Verka bypass. The metro bus service under the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) still appears to be a distant dream for residents.

Tall claims of the state government to revive the BRTS project have fallen flat. The government has failed to increase the frequency of buses on any of the routes. The railway overbridge near Bhandari Bridge has been completed but the authorities have not opened it for traffic.

Lifts for the BRTS bus stoppages have been under construction for two years but there is no clue when it will complete. Local Government Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu has assured several times that the BRTS routes will be ready within three months.

Amidst all this, residents are deprived of the public transport system. They have to depend on autorickshaws. Despite spending Rs 800 crore of the public money, separate BRTS lanes are of no use. These sometimes lead to traffic congestion in several areas.

Mandeep Singh, a local resident, said, “It is sad that the city has around 100 air-conditioned buses, which have been gathering dust since 2016 due to poor planning. It is a sheer wastage of resources. The government should fix the responsibility of the officials concerned.”

Baldev Singh, in-charge, Metro Bus Service, said, “The railway overbridge is ready but we have no intimation from the government about the start of new routes. We are operating nine buses, five on the Chheharta route and four on Verka.”