Srinagar gets fleet of 30 buses

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, June 19

The fractured public transport system in Srinagar city has got a boost as the district administration on Wednesday announced the induction of a fleet of electric buses.

Shahid Chaudhary, Deputy Commissioner of Srinagar, announced the induction of a new fleet of buses and described it as a “small beginning”. He said the fleet consisted of 30 electric buses which had arrived in the city.

“The district administration has planned to replace 250 old minibuses in the city with modern buses for which a timeline has been fixed as part of a major revamp of public transport. Another fleet of buses dedicated to women passengers is expected to hit the roads by September this year,” Chaudhary said.

The public transport system in Srinagar city is in a degraded condition as it is entirely private owned though regulated by the district administration.

The passengers in the city face a lot of trouble as public transport goes off the roads immediately after dusk and people have to walk to home.

The public and private transport in the city grapples with problems as many city roads are either congested or in bad shape and there are no proper parking facilities. Srinagar, the main city in the Kashmir valley, has acute shortage of road infrastructure and the average ratio of 212 vehicles per km of road is among the highest in the world. The snail-paced construction of the 2.41 km Rambagh-Jehangir Chowk flyover, which is continuing for the last more than four years, has also led to a blockade of major roads leading to the centre of the city.

The addition of the new fleet of buses and completion of the flyover, which is expected in the next few weeks, is likely to improve the transport system in the city. In addition to the new fleet of buses, another fleet of motorbikes was handed over to the Traffic Police and motor vehicles department to help them regulate traffic.

An official said 100 high-power motorcycles were handed over to the policemen tasked with traffic regulation and curbing violations.