Govt event set to leave commuters in lurch

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 20

While the stage is set for a state-level function to mark martyrdom day of Baba Jeewan Singh at Bishambharpura village tomorrow, commuters travelling by road will have a tough time in the state as the ruling party has roped in buses of the PRTC and the Punjab Roadways to ferry people for the event.

Apparently eyeing the Dalit vote bank, the SAD has pulled out all stops to put up a major show of strength at the event that will be attended by the party top brass, including CM Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal.

A number of PRTC buses have been roped in to ferry the people from different corners of the state for attending the event. Around 600 buses of the Punjab Roadways and 400 of the PRTC have been pressed into service for the job.

Out of 56 buses of the Amritsar depot of the Punjab Roadways, 50 have been diverted for the event. According to sources, 400 buses have been sent to different areas of Amritsar to bring people to the event venue tomorrow. The remaining 600 buses will ferry people from other parts of Punjab to Amritsar. These buses will not run on their routine routes on Saturday and Sunday, thus leaving commuters in the lurch.

Cabinet Minister Gulzar Singh Ranike, along with DC Ravi Bhagat, took stock of the arrangements at Bishambharpura village this evening. Bhagat said the venue was spread over 100 acres, including 60 acres for parking vehicles. Around 25,000 chairs would be available at the ‘pandal’, although the turnout was expected to be much higher.