Extra travel time, hike in bus fares irk Ghaziabad commuters in Kanwar season

Ghaziabad: About 110,000 daily commuters who use the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) buses are facing major issues due to traffic diversions, which have been put in place across Ghaziabad district due to the ongoing Kanwar Yatra

Ghaziabad: About 110,000 daily commuters who use the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) buses are facing major issues due to traffic diversions, which have been put in place across Ghaziabad district due to the ongoing Kanwar Yatra.

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Transport officials said that due to the diversions, they were also forced to shut all the three operational routes of city electric buses.

UPSRTC officials said that they operate about 880 buses from Ghaziabad region and these include about 115 air-conditioned (AC) buses.

The official figures also indicate that the fare of buses on popular routes such as the ones to Meerut and Uttarakhand have increased due to increased distance buses have to travel because of the diversions.

According to official figures, the fare of UPSRTC’s Volvo buses (operating from Kashmere Gate in Delhi) to Haridwar and Rishikesh have increased from ₹666 and ₹793 to ₹781 and ₹923 respectively, due to the diversions. Officials said that one of the routes to Dehradun has also been shut.

The fare for short distance (ordinary bus) routes such as the one to Meerut has also increased. Earlier, the Kaushambi to Meerut fare was ₹76, which has now increased to ₹104. Likewise, Kaushambi to Haridwar fare, which was ₹270, has now increased to ₹333, officials said.

“The fares have increased considerably and many commuters have taken leave from their offices in order to avoid inconveniences. The one-way time travel to Meerut normally takes an hour. Now, the route takes about two-and-half hours due to the diverted route,” said PL Sharma, a daily commuter to Meerut.

“I was planning to travel home to Dehradun but I cancelled the trip due to the traffic diversions in place. The fare has also increased and buses are currently unavailable,” said Rohit Srivastava, a Ghaziabad resident.

Officials said that the majority of buses on different short distance and long-distance routes are taking up to at least one hour to move out of Ghaziabad district due to the diversions.

“The only option available at present is to take the Delhi-Meerut Expressway. The travel has also increased due to diversions in western UP and Uttarakhand. This is why the fares have also increased from ₹25 to ₹200 on different routes,” said AK Singh, regional manager, UPSRTC.

“Due to the increase in the number of Kanwariyas and diversions in Ghaziabad, we have decided to shut all the three operational electric bus routes for intra-city commuters. Due to the Kanwar Yatra, we have deployed about 115 buses exclusively for ferrying pilgrims to Haridwar,” Singh added.

The three electric bus routes are Dilshad Garden to Masuri, Loni to Old Bus Stand and Kaushambi to Modinagar.

Due to the diversions that are put in place till the morning of July 27, the Delhi-Meerut Road, which is a major route for buses to Meerut, western UP districts and Uttarakhand, has been completely shut for heavy vehicles.

According to official estimates, about 3 million Kanwariyas will pass through Ghaziabad district.

Kanwar Yatra is being held after a two-year hiatus. The event could not be held in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.