Preneet Kaur slams AAP govt over shifting of Patiala bus stand

Patiala, October 4

Member of Parliament Preneet Kaur lashed out at the AAP government for gross mismanagement of the bus service system here today.

Preneet claimed, “The New Bus Stand was inaugurated by CM Bhagwant Mann in May, but neither has the local shuttle bus service started operating properly nor the shopkeepers of the Old Bus Stand have been provided any relief to date.”

She added, “The new bus stand was the brainchild of the Captain Amarinder Singh government and its construction was close to completion during his regime. There was a proper plan to utilise the old bus stand as well, so that the people running business near the bus stand were not affected.

The plan was laid out to keep the old bus stand in the city operational for buses travelling in a 60-km radius and also for local shuttle buses. Shuttle service was to ferry passengers to the new bus stand, which is situated fairly outside the city. But, the AAP government was in a hurry to take credit for the new infrastructure. Owing to the mismanagement on its part, both the shopkeepers of the old bus stand area as well as residents were affected.”

Former PRTC Chairman KK Sharma said, “During the Captain Amarinder Singh government, we had planned to start 30 shuttle minibus services from the old bus stand to the new one, but no such thing has been done by the current government, leaving the local passengers in discomfort. This move has not only caused losses to shopkeepers running business inside the old bus stand but also to the entire internal market of the city. As the new bus stand is situated on the outskirts of the city, the footfall of customers from other cities has dropped drastically, causing losses to the entire business community here.”

Traders’ despair

For the past five months, traders have been demanding that the government should run the old bus stand. They had earlier expressed displeasure over the loss of business due to the shifting of the city bus stand near Urban Estate in May and also held repeated meetings with officials. Shopkeepers, hoteliers, restaurant owners and others had staged a protest during the visit of two CMs to the city.