The Punjab Government has floated a scheme to promote water tourism in the State. With this, the amphibious buses will soon be seen running in the State’s water bodies.
“The amphibious vehicles with an ability to run both on water and land would be introduced in Harike wetlands at the confluence of the Beas and Sutlej rivers,” said an official spokesperson.
After offering sightseeing tour on land at Harike headworks, the dual-mode bus would enter the lake so that visitors could glimpse the rich biodiversity of Harike wildlife sanctuary.
Having an extended area of 8,600 hectares, the declared wetland is significant abode for the winged guests migrating from across the international frontiers, he said.
Spokesperson said that the tenders to invite manufacturers to supply one such tourist bus have been floated by the Punjab Heritage Tourism Promotion Board (PHTPB).
He said that the department will invite representatives of manufacturing firms to give a presentation about the features of their bus units.
The dual mode bus, equipped with indispensable accessories like life-jackets, would have the capacity to carry 60 tourists, including 10 children.
He said that the cost of one bus would be around `1.5 to `2 crore. The decision to purchase more buses will be taken after evaluating the performance of the first unit. The Government is hopeful of the success of the scheme which would put the state on the world map from tourism point of view, he said.
Notably, Indus Dolphin was recently sighted in the Beas river in the man-made riverine Harike wetland spreads into the three districts of Amritsar, Ferozepur and Kapurthala and covers an area of 4100 hectares.
Besides, Punjab Government is also planning to release 10 gharials in the Harike wetlands as the first step to increase their numbers and to attract more tourists.
The announcement to float amphibious buses was first made by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal during a massive rally in Bathinda in Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari’s presence. He had then announced to launch “buses that will ride on water and on the road and passengers can catch fish while riding on the bus.”
Sukhbir’s out of the ordinary statement attracted major criticism, not only by the opposition, but also by the people making him a butt of jokes. Not discouraged, he decided to move ahead with the project, and make it a reality to retort to his critics.
He, on his official Facebook page, had announced that the amphibious buses will be on track “by March next year”.