Shortage of buses blamed for Pinjore, Kalka commuters’ woes

Sanjay Bumbroo

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Panchkula, April 29

Even as population of Pinjore and Kalka increased manifold due to the setting up of industrial estates at Baddi and Parwanoo, the number of buses has come down from 100 three decades ago to 45 at the Haryana State Transport Sub-Depot in Kalka city.

As a result, commuters to Panchkula, Chandigarh and Baddi, especially students and employees, are forced to risk their lives by travelling in overloaded auto-rickshaws and spend more money on taxis and other vehicles to reach their destinations.

Buses from the Kalka sub-depot, the only hilly area of Haryana situated at the foothills of Shivalik hills, plied to Kanpur, Rohtak, Jind, Hisar, Baijnath, Saharanpur, Dehradun, Shimla, Meerut, Paonta Sahib, Dadri, etc, three decades ago. Now, many private buses and other vehicles are plying ‘illegally’ on the Nalagarh Road, Kalka, Chandigarh, Ambala and Shimla routes.

Advocate Vijay Bansal, president, Shivalik Vikas Manch, has written a letter to CM Manohar Lal Khattar and Transport Minister Mool Chand Sharma asking them to increase the number of buses at the Kalka depot. He said shortage of buses was causing problems for commuters to industrial areas like Baddi, Barotiwala, Parwanoo and Dera Bassi and students of schools, colleges and technical institutes in Panchkula and Chandigarh. He said patients were also facing difficulties due to non-availability of direct bus service from Kalka to the PGI in Chandigarh.