Pvt firm to maintain bus stand on BOT mode

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, March17

RRKK Company will operate the city bus stand under the Build, Operate and Transter (BOT) mode. In a recently held auction, the Punjab Roadways had transferred the ownership of the centrally-located bus stand to RRKK company that has been formed within the collaboration of GSK Travel Agency Company and Luthra Enterprises.

In 2015, the Punjab Roadways took the ownership of the bus stand from a Gujarat-based company called Wealth PUN but due to lack of its maintenance, demands were raised to shift its ownership to other company, said Kulwinder Ghuman, head of GSK company .

“Punjab roadways officials didn’t even spent a single penny on the cleanliness, maintenance and modification of the bus stand,” he alleged.

RRKK Company after quoting the highest bid (1 crore 49 lakh and 50 thousand) in the technical and financial bid has also promised to give a monthly sum of Rs 50 lakh as revenue to the government and is planning to renovate all the prime locations of the bus stand, immediately after taking its charge in April.

Currently, Ghuman said, the whole premises of the bus stand is in ill condition. Illegal scraps are lying at huge chunks, the main water tank is leaking from several months but no replacement has been done. Daily more than 50 litres of water is getting waste and passers-by could even drenched up within 500 metre range of the tank.

Commuters face inconvenience due to irregularities in cleanliness. Besides the lights are defunct in the interiors of the bus stand, only the lights of shops operate.Hence the company has also decided to install a new generator to maintain the power supply .

Also the rain water harvesting plants will be scrutinised and recovered before the rainy season. Whereas, passengers also have to now to pay more at parking counters and the food courts as maintenance cost will be increased.