Commuters battle chaos outside new bus stand in Patiala

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Patiala, June 18

A month after the inauguration of the new Pepsu Road Transport Corporation’s (PRTC) bus stand on the city outskirts, chaos prevails on the Patiala-Rajpura highway primarily due to three-wheelers and battery-powered rickshaws.

This comes despite an assurance by the PRTC of running buses on local routes to link important areas within the city.

The new bus stand has been constructed as the old one couldn’t handle the influx of buses. Its presence in the heart of the city also led to traffic chaos around it.

However, despite the new bus stand being unveiled by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on May 16, residents say the PRTC has failed to rid the city of traffic congestion. “Though the PRTC has managed to shift the bus stand outside of the city, it has failed to tackle key issues related to traffic management,” says a resident.

“The problem of traffic congestion on the Patiala-Rajpura road, outside the bus stand, has not been addressed. Battery and diesel-powered three-wheelers can be seen parked on both sides of the highway, creating a bottleneck. It has become a regular affair,” says a commuter.

In fact, the PRTC had decided to run local buses to ferry residents to the city, thereby reducing their dependence on three-wheelers.

It takes 20 to 30 minutes to cross the light point outside the bus stand, which otherwise took one to three minutes, due to the chaos, says a resident. “The traffic congestion here has become worse,” says a commuter from New Friends Colony.

PRTC general manager Jatinder Grewal, however, says the office is working on tackling the problem. “We are holding regular meetings with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to construct a slip road from the Patiala- Rajpura road to the Sirhind bypass road. We are also discussing widening of the road on the opposite side of the bus stand to make way for traffic. We are already running 30 buses up to the Kaurjiwala village flyover and to Samana and Patran areas among others locally. Additionally, the PRTC has plans to purchase 60 mini buses for local routes, the proposal for which has already been prepared and sent for approval.”

Further, the PRTC office has allowed three-wheelers to ferry commuters from inside the bus stand, which has already reduced congestion. “Even pick-up and drop-off services are being provided from within the bus stand,” he adds.