- Administration gave assurance of giving remaining amount after elections
Chronicle Reporter, Bhopal
In Bhopal, the wheels of buses have been stopped for various reasons during the last few months — whether it is due to non-deposit of PF and ESIC money or due to inconvenience in getting bus cards made. Now, the news is that about 20 crore rupees are required to continue public transport service in the entire state including Bhopal and if the companies running the transport service do not get this amount, then they will distance themselves from Bhopal bus transport. If this happens, more than 500 buses will be stopped. Due to this, people using transport across the city will have to face a lot of trouble. This means that, to continue the operation of buses in Bhopal, the administration will have to raise 5 crore rupees. Due to non-receipt of this amount, the operation of buses was affected recently and even now if this amount is not paid, the operation of buses will be affected. If we believe the report that came out last year, the government had given Rs 5.53 crore to Bhopal Municipal Corporation a year ago for operating buses and had promised to give the remaining amount after the elections. To strengthen urban public transport, the government operated buses on the PPP model (Grass Model).
Buses were to ply on these routes
Under the PPP model, the bus operator used to operate buses for 180 km per day. These buses were to be run on those routes also, where the number of passengers is very less. Whereas, operating buses on these routes is a loss for the operators. Because, the bus cannot be stopped for long at any one stop and in such a situation, sufficient passengers are not able to board the bus from many stops. But to reach the bus to its destination on time, the operators have to run the bus even at a loss.
