Punjab to start buses from Delhi airport

Chandigarh, Mar 14 (UNI) The Punjab government will start special bus services from the IGI international airport, New Delhi to various destinations in Punjab.

The buses would be started for the convienence of the large number of NRIs of Punjab who arrive or depart from the IGI each day, state Transport Minister Mohan Lal said at a media conference here today.

The state government would approach the authorities concerned for starting the buses from the airport, he said while pointing to the fleecing of passengers by taxi operators.

Admitting that the state transport department was incuring losses every year, the Minister said after he assumed charge a drive had been launched to check plying of unauthorised and illegal buses and taxis. So far 137 buses had been impounded in the state in the last one week, he claimed while pointing out that 11 of these buses were owned by a private transport company of a former Congress MLA.

He said a special night dominance drive had been launched to check illegal plying of buses, which were causing a loss of Rs two lakh per night, due to non-payment of taxes. The transport department was not suffering losses due to revenue collection, but because of its old fleet of buses, he said while claiming that the department would cross its revenue target of Rs 4.51 crore set for the current financial year.

The annual loss of the Punjab Roadways with its old fleet of 778 buses, was estimated to be around Rs 72 crore, while the loss of Punjab Road Transport Corporation )PRTC) with 1000 buses was around Rs 17.91 crore in the last fiscal year, he said. However PUNBUS with its new fleet of 565 buses had shown a Rs 38 crore profit in the last financial year.

The Minister said that PRTC had launched a Punjab Gaurav series of buses and eight such buses for various destinations from Patiala were launched yesterday. The PRTC had also started a AC Goldline series and the first bus was flagged off yesterday from Patiala, he added.

Mr Mohan Lal said that facilities at bus stands would be upgraded for the staff as well as the passengers.All old buses of the Punjab Roadways and PRTC would be replaced, he added.

The Minister also announced that rebate in taxes for mini bus operators was under the consideration of the government. He made it clear that all truck unions in the state would be registered with the transport department and freight rates would be fixed to avoid fleecing by truck operators.

UNI