Bus stand area in Sirsa chock-a-block, land for new depot yet to be finalised

Anil Kakkar

Sirsa, April 18

Heavy traffic congestion at the city bus stand has become a major issue. With over 500 buses arriving and departing from the bus stand, the Hisar road remains chock-a-block throughout the day. The plan to relocate the bus stand to a site outside the city was mooted a long time ago, but the land for the purpose is yet to be finalised.

As per regulations, a bus stand building is considered safe for a minimum period of 42 years. After this, an assessment is done to determine the condition of the building and its suitability in the area. Following this assessment, repairs and maintenance of the building can be carried out for the next 10 years.

Traffic congestion a routine affair

• The bus stand is situated along the main road in the city
• Around 20,000 passengers travel from the depot daily
• Over 500 buses ferry the passengers to their destinations
• The Government National College is situated in front of the bus stand
• Thousands of students visit daily, resulting in heavy crowds in the area

The construction of the bus stand in Sirsa was completed in 1987 and it was inaugurated by the then Chief Minister, Chaudhary Devi Lal. The building of the bus stand is currently in a good condition.

As the bus stand is situated in the city along the main road, traffic congestion is a routine affair. Sirsa Roadways General Manager (GM) Navneet Singh had sent a proposal to the higher authorities for the use of 20 acres of land for the new bus stand in Sirsa.

For the inspection of land, the Deputy Commissioner had formed a seven-member committee under the chairmanship of the SDM on September 1, 2022. On October 11 that year, the committee inspected two pieces of land, each measuring 20 acres, on the Hisar road in Sirsa. The first piece of land is near Mangalam Marriage Palace and the second one is near Ranjendra Institutes.

The report was submitted to the GM of Sirsa Roadways on February 16, 2023, and on February 23, 2023, which was then sent to the Haryana transport headquarters in Chandigarh. On March 21 that year, a letter from Chandigarh headquarters was sent to the GM to finalise one of the sites.

A committee meeting was held under the SDM on May 17, in which the land near Bajekan village, close to Mangalam Marriage Palace, was found suitable. Subsequently, on September 13 last year, a letter was written to the DC by the GM, requesting the formation of a committee to conduct the final inspection of the land. The process has been pending since then.

The GM said a committee formed by the DC had suggested a piece of land and its report had been submitted. “If the suggestion is accepted, the government can acquire the land, clearing the way for the new bus stand in Sirsa,” he said. He said around 20,000 passengers travelled daily from the Sirsa Roadways Depot. Direct services from Sirsa include Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Jaipur, and Jammu.

Mohan Lal, who commutes to Fatehabad daily, said the proliferation of battery rickshaws and auto-rickshaws had reached a point where accidents occured frequently due to the constant jostling among the drivers for picking up passengers.

DC RK Singh said the process of identifying new land for the bus stand was underway.