The Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Harish Rawat is leaving no stone unturned to make the ongoing Char Dham Yatra a success in order to paint a positive picture of the State after the disaster of 2013 but the shabby condition of the buses of the State carrier — Uttarakhand Roadways — has again put a question mark on the intention of the State Government. It was learnt that more than 35 per cent of the buses of the State carrier are not roadworthy. The Uttarakhand roadways have a fleet of 1,000 buses while 300 buses of private operators are running on contract with the transport corporation.
Interestingly, the buses deployed on most important route Delhi- Dehradun are also in bad condition.One of a passenger who traveled in an air-conditioned bus running on contract with the state transport corporation recently was very annoyed with the condition of the supposedly important bus. He said that the AC of the bus was non functional, the seats were torn and no facility of drinking water. The conductor of this bus accepted that the AC of the bus is not effective. When contacted the Managing Director (MD) of Uttarakhand Transport Corporation, Brijesh Kumar Sant said that strong action would be initiated against the private operators and officials if any complaint about functioning of AC in the buses is found.
He said that mobile numbers of AGM operations and depot incharge are displayed prominently in all the buses and passenger should call on these numbers without hesitation. Sant said that the ageing buses of roadways would soon be replaced by new ones. He informed that the 590 new buses would soon be part of the fleet of roadways as CM Rawat who also is the transport minister has given his nod for purchase of these buses. Sant said that the corporation would take a loan of Rs 100 Crore from HUDCO in two installments of Rs 50 lakh each for these buses. The state government has agreed to bear the interest of this loan while the principal amount would be paid by the corporation. To improve the condition of the AC and deluxe buses on important routes like Dehradun – Delhi the corporation has purchased 10 deluxe and 16 Volvo buses which would be inducted into the fleet soon.