The illegal and unmonitored operations of three-wheeler vehicles like Vikrams and electric rickshaws have adversely affected the business of the city buses in Dehradun and if the authorities continue to remain apathetic towards the issue, the buses will not survive for long here. The bus operators will be bound to protest against the authorities if they fail to take action against it soon. This was stated by the president of the Dehradun Mahanagar City Bus Seva Mahasangh , Vijay Vardhan Dandriyal who expressed his concern over the future of city buses after their operation completely stopped on three main routes of the city. He said that the operation of city buses has declined to about 35 to 40 per cent in the last two years in Dehradun. The operation of buses on three routes- Dalanwala to Daat Kali Temple, Nalapani to Seema Dwar and Purukul village to Mothrowala have completely stopped and only about 60 per cent buses are running on the remaining routes as most of the bus operators have surrendered their permits as they were hardly able to afford the fuel on daily basis.
He said that in the last two years, only city bus operators have surrendered their permits during the Covid-19 pandemic but neither Vikrams nor e-rickshaws have done this. It is obviously because their livelihood was not affected.
He said, "The authorities here do not have exact numbers of Vikrams operating in the city and the number they tell us is not even half of the actual one. The number of e-rickshaws has almost doubled since the government allowed their operation here. There are about 5,000 e-rickshaws operating in the city and this number is consistently increasing. Their operation is not allowed on main roads as per the notification issued by the government but e-rickshaws are running on every main road and picking passengers from any route they want which is against the rules for contract carriage permit holders."
"Are we really saying that they have been able to act against the laws without any assistance from the authorities? If so, then it is also a big flaw of the authorities.
The livelihood of at least seven people is associated with each bus that is being affected due to such illicit practices. Many locals are also suffering financially due to the lack of operation of buses as no other public transport directly covers long distances like Dalanwala to Data Kaali Temple at minimal prices. Shouldn't the authorities look into it?" questioned Dandriyal. He said that he has sent a letter to the superintendent of police (traffic) stating to immediately take action against the violations by e-rickshaws or the bus union will protest against authorities.