College buses seen in Ludhiana bus stand, union cries foul

Punjab Roadways GM says it was allowed only for a day as the buses couldn’t find parking space outside

In a blatant violation of rules mandating that only authorised buses with permits are allowed to park and operate within the premises of the Ludhiana Interstate Bus Terminal (ISBT), a large number of school and college buses are being openly parked inside the bus stand on a regular basis without any checks or enforcement, people familiar with the matter said.

Buses of educational institutions parked at the bus stand in Ludhiana on Sunday. (Manish/HT)

A few officials, wishing not to be named, said that over the past few weeks, the illegal parking has become frequent where such buses can be seen occupying prime parking slots meant exclusively for scheduled state and permitted private buses, severely disrupting smooth traffic flow and creating inconvenience for regular operations inside the terminal.

According to officials, the problem surfaced after the appointment of a new private contractor in November, who is responsible for collecting adda fee and ensuring that only permitted buses are parked within the terminal.

Jasbinder Singh Grewal, general secretary of the Small Scale Bus Operators’ Welfare Association, said, “Since the new contractor has taken over the collection of adda fees at Ludhiana bus stand, illegal parking by contract carriage, school and college buses has become rampant not only inside the bus stand premises but also on the flyover near the fee counter which is used by regular buses to exit the terminal,” Grewal said.

Grewal further pointed out that under the terms of the contract, the contractor is authorised to collect adda fees only from state carriage buses on a per trip basis while they exit the bus stand. “If buses are parked inside the bus stand, the fee is almost double, including both parking and adda charges. It is astonishing that for several weeks now, unauthorised buses are entering the terminal and parking at prime locations meant for scheduled state transport buses without any restrictions,” he said.

Grewal questioned the lack of oversight, stating, “Who will keep a check if these buses start picking up passengers from inside the bus stand?”

When contacted, Navraj Batish, general manager, Punjab Roadways, said he was initially unaware of the issue. “Upon inspection, it was found that the buses had been parked only on Sunday. The buses were being used for an educational trip and were allowed to be stationed inside the bus stand for just a day after they faced difficulty parking outside due to lack of space,” he said.

Responding to allegations regarding the appointment of an aide of a blacklisted contractor, Batish stated that the appointment had been made through a fair and transparent e-auction in accordance with government norms. “Earlier, the adda fee collection was handled by conductors and sub-inspectors. The contract has been outsourced for a period of six months,” he said.