Commuters in the State capital can soon enjoy a ride in air-conditioned low- floor buses. The Urban Development Department is working on the technicalities of five such buses after which concerned documents will be sent for approval to Urban Development Minister Suresh Paswan.
“Our engineers are working on the technicalities of five low-floor buses approved by Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC). Documents of these buses will be sent to Urban Development Minister Suresh Paswan by next week. Thereafter, RMC will be authorised for the implementation of the plan,” Urban Development department Joint Secretary BC Mitra said on Saturday.
Notably, RMC had floated the tender and then the bidding of the project was done around 30 days back. “We forwarded our final report to Urban Development department in July,” said RMC Deputy Chief Executive Officer Om Prakash.
Speaking on the condition of these buses, an engineer of RMC said, “All the buses are new and have been contributed by Tata Motors.” Efforts for the project are being lined up since 2012 after district administration was ordered by court to make a move over the plan.
Sources maintain that Ranchi Deputy Commissioner Vinay Kumar Choubey wanted the plying of these city buses by March 2013 which eventually did not happen. Many organisations of the city have been demanding for low floor buses for the convenience of the challenged passengers.
Denizens who are waiting to see low floor buses within the city have welcomed the initiative. “Boarding low floor buses will be much easier than autos, rickshaws and city buses because of their low floor design and broad doors,” said Dolly Ganguly, a resident of Hinoo.
Another resident Shipra Bhattacharya of Jail Road said, “As I am suffering from arthritis, travelling in low floor buses will be convenient.”