Residents want BRTS to handle vehicles of City Bus Service

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, September 18

City residents want the government to hand over the City Bus Service (CBS) to the BRTS as scores of buses under the now defunct CBS are gathering dust at the bus stand in Mall Mandi.

Recalling that 60 buses were introduced under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission’s (JNURM) CBS, Balram Kumar Sharma, president, Punjab Sudhar Sabha, said that if the unused buses were handed over to the BRTS, the public transport service would be strengthened.

Citing an example, he said, “Majitha road does not have a dedicated corridor for the BRTS so the latter’s buses do not ply there. However, the BRTS corridor passes from the Majitha road’s Sant Singh Sukha Singh intersection. There are scores of densely populated residential colonies alongside the Majitha road stretch from the byepass to the intersection. By plying CBS buses on the Majitha road, residents of such colonies can be linked to the BRTS.”

Another city resident, Prof Mohan Singh, said public money was being misused by not properly utilising the buses. “The CBS buses can bring more passengers for the BRTS which operates only in the limited corridor,” he said.

He felt that city residents had waited for almost seven years for the City Bus Service only to find it lying defunct. After two years of its existence, most of the buses went off road.

Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu said the MC House had already passed a resolution to hand over the fleet of the CBS to the PRTC. In case they do not come, then the MC can act on such an idea to make optimum utilisation of its assets.”