Passengers were left stranded in the biting cold at the Ludhiana interstate bus stand after the state transport department diverted 132 government buses to Maghi Mela, scheduled to be held in Muktsar Sahib on Wednesday.
According to officials, the diversion included 60 buses of Punjab Roadways and 72 of PRTC from Ludhiana depot. With Ludhiana housing a total fleet of just 227 buses, this meant more than half of the city’s operational public buses were pulled out at once for the event, curtailing their availability on several routes. The sudden shortage left daily commuters, office goers and women travelling under the free travel scheme struggling to find alternative transport, intensifying the inconvenience during the festive season.
Commuters expressed anger and helplessness as they waited in the cold for hours. Anju Sharma, who was travelling to Chandigarh said, “I have been waiting here for more than two hours, standing in the cold with no bus in sight. We depend on these buses for our daily travel. But every time the government diverts them for political events, passengers like us bear the brunt. They should use private buses to ferry their workers instead of taking away buses that common people rely on. This creates unnecessary hardship, especially during festivals when everyone is trying to travel to their loved ones. It feels like our needs are completely ignored.”
Echoing similar sentiments, Ramesh Kumar, a daily wage worker from Raikot, said, “I have been waiting for an hour to catch a few operational buses to reach my job on time. I rely on these buses for my daily travel as they are economical. Now, I will have to spend extra on a private bus just to reach my work.”
Officials said routes connecting Ludhiana to Delhi, Patiala, Bathinda, Ferozepur, Moga and Pathankot saw a reduction in bus frequency. Several rural routes including Doraha, Raikot, Jagraon and Machiwara were also affected. Officials added that efforts were being made to prioritise routes with high passenger footfall such as Chandigarh, Jalandhar and Amritsar. As many people travel to pay obeisance at Darbar Sahib in Amritsar during Lohri and Maghi, authorities are ensuring that the remaining buses continue to operate on this route. In addition, to ease the burden on office commuters, extra buses have been deployed on the Ludhiana–Chandigarh route, providing some relief to passengers travelling for work, officials added.
Navraj Batish, general manager of Punjab Roadways, said, “We have deployed 60 buses for the Muktsar Sahib event. While this impacts some routes, we are focusing on maintaining operations on high demand routes. On Ludhiana-Chandigarh and Ludhiana-Amritsar routes, we are running additional buses to accommodate office-goers and pilgrims during this festive period.”
On December 29, around 23 buses from Ludhiana were sent to ferry workers for a state-level event in Gurdaspur. On January 8, several buses were redirected for the oath-taking ceremony of zila parishad members in Ludhiana.
www.hindustantimes.com
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