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Ludhiana: Bus diversion for Maghi Mela cripples services for 2nd day
The fallout was clearly visible at the Ludhiana bus stand on Wednesday where frustrated commuters were seen waiting for hours in freezing temperatures
Commuters in Ludhiana were hassled for the second consecutive day on Wednesday as several government-run buses remained largely off road following their diversion for the Maghi Mela event in Muktsar Sahib. Reportedly, around 132 buses from Ludhiana, including 60 from Punjab Roadways and 72 from PRTC, have been pressed into service since Tuesday morning to ferry devotees attending the religious congregation on Wednesday.
The large-scale diversion has not only disrupted routine passenger services across key routes but has also dealt a significant financial blow to the already strained Punjab Roadways depot in Ludhiana. Notably, Punjab Roadways depot in Ludhiana alone suffered a revenue loss of over ₹2.68 lakh after failing to operate nearly 38,400 km during the two-day period due to the diversion, officials said.
Officials further noted that diverting a large portion of the fleet has crippled routine operations. With nearly two thirds of the depot’s buses deployed for Maghi Mela duties, several regular intercity and long distance routes were either curtailed or skipped, leaving passengers to bear long waiting hours or to board overcrowded private buses.
A senior Punjab Roadways official said the Ludhiana depot operates a fleet of around 92 buses which collectively cover nearly 32,000 km daily under normal circumstances. Out of these, almost 60 buses were diverted to Muktsar Sahib, leaving them with very limited operational capacity. As a result, several long haul and high demand routes including Jammu, Delhi, Bathinda, Moga and parts of Himachal Pradesh had to be either skipped entirely or run with drastically reduced frequency,” they added.
The fallout was clearly visible at the Ludhiana bus stand on Wednesday where frustrated commuters were seen waiting for hours in freezing temperatures amid uncertainty over bus availability.
Many passengers complained that the absence of government buses has made daily travel unaffordable, particularly for office goers, students and low income workers who depend heavily on subsidised public transport.
Gurmandeep Kaur, a private sector employee who commutes daily to Chandigarh, said, “I rely entirely on government buses because they are affordable and reliable. For the last two days, I waited for hours but no Punjab Roadways or PRTC bus arrived. Eventually, I had no option but to take a private bus shelling out more money. Even when the government claims to provide us free travel, such disruption has become a norm, hampering our regular travel,” she said.
Echoing similar frustration, Vandita Jain, another commuter, said, “There was absolutely no clarity about availability of buses on different routes. I stood at the bus stop for over an hour, hoping to board a few running government buses. For daily commuters, this kind of disruption is exhausting and unfair.”
On Tuesday, Punjab Roadways general manager Navraj Batish had confirmed that 60 Punjab Roadways buses had been deployed for the Muktsar Sahib event.
When contacted, Rakesh Kumar, station superintendent at the Ludhiana bus stand, acknowledged the inconvenience caused to passengers. “The diversion was carried out as per the instructions for the state level event in Muktsar Sahib. The buses are set to return to their respective depots by Wednesday evening, resuming the routine operations from tomorrow.”
