Palampur bus stand cries for govt attention

Ravinder Sood

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Palampur, August 21

The local bus stand, which was constructed at a cost of Rs 3 crore a few years ago, is crying for the attention of the authorities. The bus stand is in a state of neglect as the HRTC has not carried out any repairs here in the past five years.

During the BJP regime various plans were made for the expansion of the bus stand, but because of differences between local MLA Parveen Sharma and then Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, no funds were released and the condition of the bus stand moved from bad to worse.

Later in December 2012, the Congress government took over the reins of the state. Unfortunately, the present government also adopted the same approach. Despite the best efforts of local MLA and Speaker of the Assembly Brij Behari Lal Butail, the state government failed to release funds for the repair of the bus stand.

The government has ignored this bus stand which is evident from the fact that it has not carried out even a single patchwork at the bus stand in the last 30 months.

The CM and the Transport Minister seem to be unconcerned with the situation despite repeated requests made by local residents in the past two-and-a-half years.

Deep potholes can be seen at various spots in the bus stand compound causing water-logging. It becomes difficult for passengers during rain to approach the ticket counters because of water-logging in and around the bus stand.

A senior officer of the HRTC who looks after the expansion and maintenance of the bus stand said that a blueprint for the expansion and maintenance of the bus stand was already under consideration of the state government. There is also a proposal for the expansion of the bus stand under the built, operate and transfer (BOT) model. However, funds are yet to be released by the state government.

When Shanta Kumar was the Chief Minister, the state government had acquired a plot of 75 kanals of valuable land in the heart of the town for the bus stand.