Public safety at risk on bus stand premises

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, September 20

The safety and security of hundreds of passengers/visitors at the city bus stand is being compromised these days.

Two CCTV cameras installed at prime locations at the city bus stand are lying dysfunctional for the past week.

Even live electricity wires can be seen dangling at different places at the bus stand, thereby posing risk to the lives of visitors.

Notably, a number of theft incidents have been reported on the bus stand premises in the past but the authorities don’t seem to have learnt any lesson till now.

An employee of the PRTC, requesting anonymity, almost every month there were five to six theft cases reported at the bus stand. Later the authorities installed CCTV cameras.

Even an LED light was also stolen from a private bus parked here. If these cameras don’t work, there is every possibility that theft incidents would increase again.

A private bus operator said despite paying the fee for entry/parking of buses, they were not sure whether the buses were safe here or not.

CCTV cameras not only boost security at the bus stand but also put a check on anti-social elements.

If the authorities have invested in installing CCTV enable security system, they must also maintain it properly by repairing dysfunctional cameras.

A group of frequent passengers also rued that dangling electricity wires posed a risk to their lives.

Gurjeet Singh, a passenger, said, “Sometimes, it’s crowded inside the bus stand and there are chances that passengers can get electrocuted after coming in contact with these dangling electricity wires.

The authorities must take it on priority and fix the problem before any untoward incident occurs here, he added

Parveen Kumar, general manager, PRTC, said, “I will get the CCTV cameras repaired and fix the problem of dangling electricity wires at the earliest.”