107 bus route permits on cards in Himachal Pradesh for unemployed
Shimla, July 16
Transport Minister Bikram Singh Thakur today said permits of 107 new routes would be given to unemployed youth for plying 18-seater buses.
He was interacting with mediapersons after the third meeting of the State Transport Development and Road Safety Council here today.
He clarified that the initiative to give a 50-per cent discount in HRTC fares to women was valid only within the state and not on interstate routes.
He said the department had incurred a loss of over Rs 1,000 crore due to rebates given to various stakeholders, especially during the pandemic, but they were “willing to incur losses to give benefit to people”. He said a loan to the tune of Rs 110 crore was taken to give benefits to pensioners.
In the past five years, the state government has purchased 206 new buses, besides 50 electric buses, under the Smart City plan and a tender for buying 350 buses has been floated, he said.
Referring to complaints of faults in some electric buses, he said such buses would be replaced.
Discussions were also held on pedestrian paths, rectification of black spots and road safety at the meeting. On an average, 1,200 persons died in 3,000 accidents while 5,000 sustained injuries each year as per data of the past five years.
The minister said the Himachal Road Safety Fund and Activities Rules, 2022, had been notified by the government under which the implementation and strengthening of road safety measures and activities were being ensured.
He said the state government had released Rs 18.38 crore for road safety. A road safety action plan of Rs 28.52 crore had been proposed for 2022-23 and a Road Safety Cell had been established under the Transport Department, in which officers of Public Works, Transport, Police, Health and Education Departments had been included.
Road black spots are being rectified through the NHAI and the Public Works Department, he said. An amount of Rs 75 lakh had been released to the police department for liquor sensors and speed check radars. He said the speed limit of vehicles had been re-fixed.
