Srinagar, Dec 30: With sunset, the public transport passengers of various City areas complain shortage of the bus services. And after an hour, by around 6:30 PM these days, many of them hardly find the cab.
 The helpless commuters are left with two options. Either to hire an auto, which could charge arbitrary. Or walk on foot.
 Even though in the past, there came some respite from the thin transport service following media reports, the problem resurfaced after a month or two.
 Observers say a lasting solution to this problem was if the State Road Transport Corporation starts a special evening bus service.
 This, they say, could prove symbiotic. While the commuters could get bus in the odd hours, the SRTC would get business.
 The observers said the SRTC buses could be asked to ply as per a schedule preferably at 8 PM, 8:30 PM or even later.
Passenger complaints
 The passengers said getting a bus in the late hours was difficult particularly during winters when the days are shorter.
 “You won’t find a bus on our route at 7 PM,” said a resident of Harwan.
 Similar complaints were voiced by residents of Humhama, Rangreth and Kral Pora areas on the City outskirts.
RTO speaks
 The Regional Transport Officer said presently there could be problem on a few routes due to diversion of traffic for Muharram.
 “But that too should be over by now,” he added.
 However, the RTO agreed that the inconvenience faced by the commuters in the late hours could be solved if the SRTC bus service was started.
 “There are always some leftovers who could be facing problem. The same can definitely be overcome if some special service is started after identification of such routes,” he added.
 The RTO, however, clarified that he had no role to start such bus service.
Past practice
 Officials said till two decades ago, the SRTC used to have a similar bus service on various routes.
 “It used to be a lifeline for the late hour passengers.  And many of them would strictly rely on it,” recalled a senior official adding the buses plied at fixed timings.
Govt speaks 
 The Transport Minister, Qamar Ali Akhoon said the proposal to start SRTC evening bus service would soon be looked into.
 “Hungry routes will be identified and where ever applicable the service will be started,” Akhoon told Greater Kashmir.
 He said the government was getting a fleet of 150 new buses for the corporation, 75 each for Jammu and Kashmir.
 “We are getting 75 buses each. Once they reach we will identify such (hungry) routes and start service.”

Lastupdate on : Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:00:00 IST