Chaos on city roads as there are few designated bus stops

DEHRADUN: Acting on a complaint by City Bus Association, state transport secretary and Garhwal commissioner CS Napchiyal has directed the Dehradun police to identify bus stops in the state capital where city buses can stop for passengers to board or alight from the vehicle.
In a letter addressed to senior superintendent of police (SSP), Dehradun, the transport secretary has clearly mentioned that the city buses have been granted stage carriage permit and they are allowed to pick and drop passengers on specified routes.
The City Bus Association had approached Napchiyal, who is also the chairman of the Regional Transport Authority (RTA), saying that Doon police were not allowing the buses to stop for picking and dropping passengers. Besides, bus operators also accused police of unnecessarily harassing them, claiming that police were stopping them from doing something which is permissible under stage carriage permit.
According to Vijay Dhandriyal, president of the City Bus Association, “City buses were given stage carriage permit under which we are allowed to pick and drop passengers from one place to another in the allotted route. However, the number of buses stops are located at only a few places as police and administration have not identified official bus stops for buses to halt.”
This has forces buses to halt at various spots which are not designated as bus stops to pick up or drop passengers. These self-decided halting points cause traffic jams, forcing the traffic police to take action against the bus drivers ad owners.
It is to be noted that there are around 270 city buses operating on 14 designated routes in the state capital. In the absence of a city bus terminal and bus stops, city buses have been forced to operate from outside Parade Ground and make stops at self-decided places for picking or dropping passengers.
Presently, there are about 36 bus stops in and around the city. A majority of them were made by the Municipal Corporation. However, most of these bus stops were set up without any planning that makes them of least use.
The transport secretary has also instructed police to take strict action against the operation of illegal tempos and autos violating permit conditions on city roads.
“We have been raising our voice against tempos and autos violating their permit conditions and operating on stage carriage permit pattern instead of contract carriage permit. Now the police have been directed to check their illegal operation, which is a welcome step” said Vijay Dhandriyal.