To attract tourists Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation (JTDC) had started tourist bus service in 2012, which is functional on Saturday and Sunday every week. But due to lack of awareness among people the tourist bus service is in a shambles, in spite of all facilities and reasonable fare. Though, the tourism department is trying its best to revive its facility.
Citing details about the present condition of tourist bus service, covering major tourist destinations, Sunil Kumar, Managing Director of JTDC said, “Presently we have just one tourist bus for the service. Around 20 to 30 people use the facility which is comparatively very less. People do not prefer bus service because they find small utility vehicles (SUVs) more convenient as most of them travel with the family members to the tourist destinations.”
“However, we are putting constant efforts to make people aware of the bus facility and we keep sending our tourism brochure highlighting various details about the local tourist spots to all the major hotels,” added Kumar.
The bus service started in 2012, covering major tourist destinations like Netarhat, Betla, Deoghar, Surya Mandir, Deori temple and all the major waterfalls on weekends is not well known among the common public.
“I am not aware about the bus facility provided by the tourism department, if the government is giving such facility it should promote it on wider scales which will further enhance the tourism culture in state,” said Vishal Jalan, a local resident.
Moreover, people refrain from going to places like Jonha falls, Hundru falls and Dasham falls due to the several reasons, which include hygiene, cleanliness and miscreants present in the area.
Giving details about the security aspect at tourist spots, Kumar added, “We have roped in villagers for maintaining cleanliness and security at these spots so that tourists do not face any problem. Presently, we have deployed 15 local people at Hundru fall, 30 people are deployed at Dasam fall. Similarly, 10 people are deployed at panchghagh falls. All of them have been deployed with the help of local gram panchayat.”
But for some local residents tourist bus seems to be a better option than personal vehicles or rented cars. Rajiv Ranjan, who had travelled in JTDC tourist bus few years back said, “Jharkhand is full of scenic beauty, now that the tourist bus service has been started, going to these places is much safer and convenient. Also, it is comparatively cheaper than renting a car.”
On the other hand, tourism department is further working on the feasibility of expanding the bus project in the near future. “We are presently looking at the possibility of expanding the tourist bus project and further we will decide that whether we will run the bus on private mode completely or we have to adopt public private partnership mode (PPP),” informed Tourism Secretary, Avinash Kumar.