With no let up in Jat protest in Haryana, the State-run Himachal Road Transport Corporation has suspended bus services to Delhi and Haryana, Transport Minister GS Bali said on Sunday.
He said no buses will ply till there was an assurance of safety of buses and passengers from the Haryana Government. The passengers were advised to check the status of buses plying on the routes passing through Haryana, he said in a statement. The Jat community protest in Haryana entered the eighth day on Sunday.
Earlier in the day, traffic on both sides of the Zirakpur-Shima highway was stuck at Panchkula in Haryana for more than six hours because the road was obstructed by Jat agitators . The traffic movement was restored after State roadways buses bound for Himachal Pradesh from Chandigarh were routed through Baddi town, avoiding Panchkula, and protestors were removed from the road, an official added.
This was for the first time that the agitators blocked the Chandigarh-Shimla highway, the major link to Shimla, Solan and Kinnaur districts of Himachal Pradesh.
Meanwhile, the Jat quota stir in Haryana have affected the tourism industry in Himachal Pradesh, particularly the influx over the weekend in this small state which is heavy dependent on this industry for finance.
The vehicular traffic was hit on Chandigarh Delhi Highway which is a major connecting road to this state, with the rest of country. Besides, cancellation of around two dozen trains daily have become the major hurdle in the tourist inflow to Himachal Pradesh.