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| Corporation loses land, vehicles to official apathy | | Govt allowing SRTC to die silent death? | | Peerzada Ummer
ET Report
srinagar, Oct 24: The State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) is dying a silent death, notwithstanding claims of the government that it's introducing latest transport services.
The government, for example, has taken back SRTC's land at various places, choking its space and squeezing its size.
It was announced that Tehzeeb Mahal would be constructed at SRTC land in Srinagar. The corporation which owned around 21 kanals of land has at present just one kanal in its possession.
The government constructed Sangarmal Shopping Complex in Srinagar amid much fanfare. What the government, however, did not tell the people was that the complex was raised over 75 kanals of land belonging to the SRTC.
Such measures by the government did not only left the corporation landless but also sent a signal that the government is leaving it to die a silent death.
Official figures reveal that in 1998, there were 1700 buses and trucks available with the SRTC, generating revenue for the government and making itself economically a viable corporation. As the years passed, so was the government's non- seriousness to empower and strengthen the SRTC. This year, the SRTC has a fleet of 900 vehicles.
SRTC’s Managing Director G.A. Sofi said most of the vehicles are in a dilapidated condition and need repairs. "We do not have sufficient number of vehicles available. Though we are striving to make SRTC viable, lack of infrastructure is taking a heavy toll," Sofi said.
With the closure of Kohala bridge in 1947, most of the trucks and buses owned by Allied Chirag Din and Sons, Nanda Bus Service, N.D. Radhakrishan and other transport operators got held up on the other side of the border.
During the crises, the foremost challenge that the state faced was the availability of essential commodities. The handful of private transporters did not come forward to meet the challenge. Their vehicles had to be commandered to bring refugees from border areas, but they did not cooperate with the state's Emergency Administration. The non- cooperating transporters were even jailed.
The government addressed the issue of development of road transport immediately after assuming office which led to the birth of the first-ever government owned transport fleet on June 1, 1948. A handful of persons were drawn virtually from the roadside both at Jammu and Srinagar to form the management to operate the 50 trucks it acquired from General Motor Corporation, Bombay along with some accessories left by the American Company.
The organisation was run as a government department in the early stages. Later it was named as Government Transport Undertaking. The J&K State Road Transport Corporation (a successor to the erstwhile Government Transport Undertaking) came into existence on September 1, 1976 under Road Transport Corporation Act of 1950.
The SRTC has played a vital role in developing the economy of the state right from the date of its inception. The corporation has maintained supply of essential commodities to every nook and corner of the state very efficiently and operates passenger bus services in all the regions within the state. It also operates services on inter-state routes in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan. |
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