The lack of public transport during evening hours on a number of routes continues to pose difficulties to the people. This despite the commuters traveling on the routes having brought it into the notice of transporters and concerned authorities several times.
At a time when Road Transport Corporation ( RTC) buses have started plying on long routes and e-busses are being introduced, the lack of public transport should have been addressed by now.
But this has not happened. If this has not happened in summer then the chances of solution seem grim in coming autumn and winter when the lack of public transport problem gets further complicated and extends to more routes.
Transporters who keep on mentioning the losses to them in past must extend the services till late evening hours to cover up the losses. That way not only they will get benefited but the commuters will no longer face problems. The concerned authorities must intervene and direct the transporters to provide the buses and cabs on the routes, where such a service is not available during evening.
This is imperative so that the commuters do not face problems. Large number of commuters on these routes say that the buses and cabs go off the roads immediately as the sun sets. The office goers and those working at shops and other business establishments find it difficult to get public transport to reach back their homes.
The autorickshaws allegedly over-charge in the evening and more so on the routes, where the buses and other cabs are unavailable. The problem is not prevailing in Srinagar city only but other towns in Kashmir also. At those places the lack of facility creates problems for the people.
Those who have to travel to villages from the towns find it difficult to do so after evening. The transporters and the officials there also must pay attention towards the problem to find a solution.
Because of the lack of public transport in Srinagar city lot of commuters can be seen waiting on bus stops for the buses or cabs. Now when there is movement of people till late evening hours during this time of summer, there is no fun not keeping the buses and cabs available on the routes.
This problem can be solved provided the transporters and the officials show interest in doing so. Otherwise the commuters will continue to face problems and they will suffer more in autumn and winter as happens every year.