Buses bought during Cong regime rusting, says Transport Minister

Our Correspondent

Palampur, January 4

Transport Minister Govind Singh Thakur said a large number of HRTC buses purchased by the Congress were off-road.

Talking to mediapersons here, he said the buses had become a liability on the HRTC, which was not in a good financial health. The minister disclosed that the corporation was paying an interest of over Rs 8 crore on the loan raised for purchasing the buses. He said all efforts were being made to bring the buses on roads in a phased manner, but there were flaws in the design like low floor and no luggage space.

The minister said there were certain issues related to the route permits of these buses and the matter was sub-judice as private transporters had challenged the routes given to such buses in the court.

The buses were not purchased by the BJP government, therefore it could not be blamed for the mess.

The buses were purchased in the beginning of 2016-17 for remote areas. However because of lack of administrative will, these buses could not be plied. Information gathered by The Tribune revealed that in Kangra district alone, as many as 217 buses had been allocated for Palampur, Baijnath, Dharamsala, Dehra, Nagrota Bagwan and Pathankot depots. A senior official of the HRTC said if no steps were taken, crores of rupees would go down the drain.