Bus service set to resume in Lahaul-Spiti district

Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Mandi, March 7

The Himachal Pradesh Transport Corporation (HRTC) will resume its bus service on the local routes of Lahaul-Spiti in the next two days. The corporation today sent its staff from the Bhuntar airport to the tribal district for the purpose.

Since January, there has been no bus service in Lahaul. Now, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has restored a few internal roads closed after heavy snowfall.

Regional manager, HRTC depot, Keylong, Lahaul-Spiti, Mangal Chand Menepa said today 25 employees of the HRTC were airlifted from the Bhuntar airport.

The staff includes a bus driver, a conductor and a technician, who will inspect the feasibility of roads to ply buses in the coming days to facilitate the people of the district.They will start the bus service in Lahaul district within one or two days. He said in the beginning, the HRTC would ply buses between Keylong-Darcha, Keylong-Udaipur and Keylong-Koksar. It would also run buses on the other routes as well. “As soon as the BRO and Public Works Department (PWD) clears the snow from link roads, the traffic will be restored,” Menepa said.

Locals have hailed the decision of the HRTC. Ashok Kumar, a resident of Lahaul, said: “We can heave a sigh of relief now. We will be able to get the bus facility. Hiring a taxi has always been a costly affair here. We can’t afford to commute by cabs. It’s good that the authorities have taken this step.”

Lahaul-Spiti, known as the cold desert, remains snow-capped for months during winter every year. Heavy snowfall forces tribals to remain indoors. Normal life is disrupted. Almost all roads remain blocked for months because of the sluggish pace of snow-clearing work by the Public Works Department and the BRO as they maintain only the main routes in the region, depriving the residents of the transportation facility during the harsh winter months.

No service since January

• Since January, there has been no bus service in Lahaul. 
• Now, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO)  has restored a few internal roads closed after heavy snowfall.