The Hindu 18.11.2010
Low-floor buses, radio cabs to de-congest Punjab roads
Special Correspondent
CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Government on Wednesday approved a mega plan to augment the public transport system in important cities including Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Bathinda, Patiala and Mohali by introducing low-floor AC buses, radio cabs and autos within the next six months.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting presided over by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and attended by Local Government Minister Manoranjan Kalia and Navjot Sidhu, MP. The “mega joint plan” to be implemented by the departments of Local Government and Transport would put in place an efficient and desirable public transportation system that would check congestion on the roads.
Tenders for low-floor AC Buses had been floated after the matter was cleared by Punjab and Haryana High Court recently.
Process was on to shortlist the operators for GPS controlled radio cab and radio auto service in these towns.
The meeting also approved an ambitious plan for the holy city of Amritsar that would involve construction of heritage village along GT Road, restoration of Ram Bagh gardens, preservation of the historic Town Hall building, setting up of food street, development of a pedestrian plaza opposite the Golden Temple, restoration of the historic gates of the walled city and renovation of the Gobindgarh Fort besides strengthening the infrastructure of Amritsar city to make it tourist-friendly.
After the meeting, Mr. Badal said that Amritsar had a potential to emerge as a major hub for international tourists if the government could provide places of attraction and other facilities to prolong their stay by a few days.
Mr. Badal said eco-friendly “hop-on-hop-off buses” would connect various religious places, while the Sulabh International would construct and maintain 33 public conveniences in the city.
Mr. Badal directed transport authorities to tie up with the tourism department to start conducted tours on religious circuits including Chandigarh-Fatehgarh Sahib-Sirhind-Chamkaur Sahib-Ropar-Anandpur Sahib-Nangal-Chandigarh, Chandigarh-Patiala, Damdama Sahib-Talwandi Sabo- Muktsar-Chandigarh and Chandigarh-Amritsar-Khadoor Sahib-Baba Bakala-Sultanpur Lodhi-Kartarpur-Chandigarh routes.
Those who participated in the proceedings included MLAs from Amritsar Inderbir Singh Bularia and Anil Joshi, Principal Secretary for Transport D.S Jaspal and Secretary for Urban Development S.S. Sandhu.
