Shillong, Jul 23 : With one of the highest numbers of taxis in any hill station anywhere, the Scotland of East is also a veritable city of cabs. But all this is poised to change for the better with state-owned city buses, making inroads here for the first time since statehood of Meghalaya, which is expected to come as a great relief to commuters hitherto dependent solely on the whims and fancies of taxi drivers.
In a significant step towards augmenting public transportation, chief minister Mukul Sangma flagged off from Police Bazar on Friday a fleet of swanky city buses procured under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).
Though private syndicates have been running buses in the city for decades now, the service provided is far from satisfactory and not adequate enough to ferry the burgeoning population. Local taxi service on the other hand is faced with public ire for "inefficient service" and frequent fare hikes.
"We want the people to use the government bus service as a fast and efficient mode of transportation in the city," Sangma said during the flagging off ceremony.
Under the JNNURM, Meghalaya has been allotted 120 buses, the highest amongst hill states in the region, which would soon ply in all the districts including towns and suburbs.
The CM also hoped the city buses would help ease traffic congestion, especially in the state capital, where the roads are bursting at its the seams with vehicles. "These buses would help in easing traffic congestion when more people use it," the chief minister said, urging the public to use the new mode of transportation.
Keeping in mind the private syndicate bus service's failure, transport minister Abu Taher Mondal said: "the JNNURM city buses would wait at bus stands only as long as passengers need to board and alight. There won't be any additional delay."
Facilities like season tickets, concessional fares for students, would be made available, he said. Mondal also said the state has received 40 out of the 120 buses. The rest would be arriving soon to be dispatched to other parts of the state, he said.
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