Srinagar: Amid ongoing restrictions on JKRTC buses in Srinagar city, the corporation has warned that this suspension of services has led to a 50 percent drop in its daily revenue, threatening its financial stability.
News agency KNO quoted a senior J&K Road Transport Corporation (JKRTC) officer as saying that in the wake of the J&K Assembly session earlier this month, the corporation was “suddenly” instructed to halt bus operations in the city.
“I don’t understand why we are being selectively targeted,” the officer said. “Private buses are still operating within the city, and we have evidence to back this up. This will negatively affect the functioning of the corporation.”
The officer said that while the northbound and southbound vehicles had previously accessed the city, they were now required to stop at Patnachowk and Parimpora. “While fleets of similar e-buses from other companies are allowed to operate in the city, our fleet of pollution-free e-buses and other modern vehicles has been restricted from going beyond Parimpora and Panthachowk,” he said.
Currently, only a portion of JKRTC fleet is operational, as buses are being stopped beyond these two points, the officer said, adding that they had raised the matter with traffic authorities but had not yet received a response.
In a related development, the Managing Director (MD) of JKRTC has written a letter to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Traffic, saying that the corporation’s daily earnings have halved and has dropped from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 4 lakh due to the restrictions on bus entry into Srinagar. This, the MD said, has led to financial losses for the state exchequer and inconvenienced the general public.
In the letter, the MD urged the IGP to allow JKRTC buses to resume operations within Srinagar city to alleviate the hardships faced by both commuters and the corporation. The restriction on JKRTC buses from entering the city has been in place since November 4, when the maiden Assembly session began, he said.
“The north sector buses are being stopped at Bemina Bypass, and the south sector buses are being halted at Pantha Chowk by the police authorities. As a result, the public is facing difficulties and frequently approaching JKRTC with their complaints,” the letter stated.
The MD said these buses were part of a Rs 200 crore government initiative launched in 2021 to make the corporation self-sufficient while providing economical and eco-friendly transportation options to the public.
“Under this initiative, the corporation purchased 655 vehicles (buses and trucks), of which 125 buses were allocated for district services in Kashmir for inter/intra-district operations. These BS-VI, pollution-free buses cater to the transport needs of every corner of the UT of J&K and have become a lifeline for the people of the Kashmir Division,” the letter stated.
The JKRTC appealed for the immediate lifting of the restrictions, requesting that buses be allowed to operate through Srinagar city as they had been doing since October 2021. The corporation said that lifting the restrictions would end the ongoing hardships for both commuters and JKRTC. (KNO)
