Pvt transporters protest against expansion of smart buses in Valley

According to the protesting associations, public transport run by private operators was also off the roads in various parts of the Valley in response to the strike call

Normal life was affected in Kashmir on Monday owing to a “chakka-jam” protest by private transporters against the planned expansion of government-run smart buses in various districts of the Valley.

People stand at a bus stand amid a valley-wide “chakka jam” called by the All Jammu and Kashmir Transporters' Welfare Association to protest against the government's proposal to expand Smart City bus services in other districts, in Srinagar on Monday. (ANI)

According to the protesting associations, public transport run by private operators was also off the roads in various parts of the Valley in response to the strike call. Commuters reported facing hardship due to the non-availability of the transport. However, autos, e-rickshaws, and government-run smart buses were still running.

Abdul Rashid, one of the residents living on the city outskirts, said, “The lack of public transport has caused a lot of problems on Monday. I had to visit a doctor at a hospital but could not reach on time due to the strike.”

Smart electric buses equipped with ACs and cameras were introduced in Jammu and Kashmir’s summer capital Srinagar in 2023 have made the commute of citizens fast and affordable.

Transporters in Kashmir had called for a strike against the government plans of expanding smart city bus services to other districts beyond Srinagar. The public transporter community, mostly run by private parties, fear that the expansion would affect their business and livelihood of thousands of private transporters.

“The expansion of the smart bus fleet will give a big blow to the public transport sector in Kashmir valley. Over a lakh people will face an impact on their employment,” said Abdul Hameed, a transporter representative. He said that the smart buses were introduced in Srinagar city and expanding the fleet to rural areas or towns was against the guidelines.

“How can they run smart city buses in districts? This is injustice to us. The Srinagar fleet of smart buses have already caused us losses,” he said. “I appeal to chief minister Omar Abdullah to refrain from expanding the fleet to rural areas,” he said.

People have often complained of overloading in the current public transport system mostly run by private operators in Srinagar. Also the city roads get deserted in the evenings causing much inconvenience to the commuters working late.

The smart city authorities initially hired the services of 100 such buses to help mitigate the problems of lack of public transport without putting much burden on the environment. The aim is also to modernise the traffic management system in the city.