Srinagar, June 28: Failure of authorities to streamline route plan of passenger buses and cabs is taking heavy toll on passengers in the summer capital.
In absence of proper route plan, there is shortage of passenger buses and cabs in various areas of the city. Taking advantage of the situation, drivers of passenger buses resort to overloading.
They said passenger buses from Exchange Road and Maisuma are particularly carrying more passengers than allowed making their travel difficult.
“RTO authorities have failed to ensure proper route plan for passenger buses. There is shortage of buses on many routes including Nishat, Harwan, Shalimar, Rawalpora, Rangreth. This gives free run to drivers of passenger buses to resort to overloading,” said Altaf Ahmed, a commuter.
Female passengers face huge inconvenience due to shortage of passenger buses. “Due to overloading in passenger buses and cabs, I have to frequently hire auto-rickshaw and pay exorbitant fare,” said Tahira, a student.
Various cab operators allege that “passengers force them to resort to overloading.” “When there is no vehicle, passengers don’t want to be left stranded,” a cab operator said.
Officials from RTO have been saying that they will take measures to tackle the issue. But passengers allege that enough is not done to prevent overloading on the ground. ARTO Srinagar did not respond to multiple calls from this reporter for his comments.