No AC rides for commuters this summer without Metro buses in Amritsar

Manmeet Singh Gill

Amritsar, March 19

Local residents are sure to miss rides on air-conditioned Metro bus services this summer as the buses are off the roads for the past nine months. With no hopes of its revival in the near future as none of the elected representatives or any leader of the Opposition have chosen to highlight the issue so far.

The Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) corridors in the city were built at a cost of Rs 550 crore. The corridors now seem to have become redundant. Further, around 92 Metro buses are gathering dust.

The Metro buses were quite popular among local residents as these offered a comfortable ride at an economical rate. During the last summer season just before the service was closed in August, the Metro buses had recorded a daily ridership of 30,000 passengers.

Lovely, a college student who travelled from Verka to Khalsa College daily, said, “I was forced to drop out of the college as my daily travel expense increased from Rs 20 daily to Rs 80.” Lovely’s mother works as a domestic help and cannot afford to give him Rs 80 every day.

Surely, there might be others like her who preferred Metro buses over auto-rickshaws or even bikes to reduce their travel expenses. “Riding on a bike is troublesome as one has to face dust and pollution. By using a Metro bus to reach my workplace, I always remained fresh,” said Rakesh, a cook at a hotel near GND University.

Many residents complain that it is strange that neither any leader of the ruling party nor from the Opposition parties have taken up the issue. They have demanded that the Metro bus service must be resumed as it was the only public transport, that too AC ride provider, available to the residents of the city.