Bhopal: Private bus operators are flouting the rules and parking their heavy vehicles on roads outside ISBT instead of moving to the assigned terminal and operating from there. Putting the life of people at risk, these operators even board and make passengers alight on roadsides. Commuters taking up the road are caught up in traffic snarls every day as stationary private buses occupy most of the space.
Mayor Alok Sharma had directed the private operators to station their bus inside the Inter State Bus Terminal (ISBT). However, all directions are thrown to the wind as bus operators continue to park their vehicles outside the allocated space, congesting the road and disrupting the traffic flow.
As many as 250 buses which depart for various destinations all over the state cause a huge vehicular congestion at the ISBT daily. Regional transport office (RTO) has failed to act against the erring operators despite several complaints related to parking of buses by the private bus operators. Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials have approached the RTO seeking action against the errant operators but to no avail.
The buses are also cause hassle for the people who park their vehicles in ISBT parking lot. “The buses from across the state arrive at the terminal but instead of going inside stand they are stationed near the parking lot meant for two and four-wheelers vehicles”, said an official of the BMC.
“Motorists at our parking stands face a lot of trouble because of these buses,” he added. The bus operators keep their vehicles parked on the road to get more passengers and avoid going inside the assigned terminal.
Interestingly since the shifting of the bus stand from Nadra to ISBT in 2011, the buses coming from various places reach the terminal around half-an-hour earlier than the time by which they used to reach Narda. Because of their early arrival, the bus drivers keep moving near the ISBT or park their vehicle beside road before going inside the terminal on the scheduled arrival time.
Member of Mayor in council (MIC) in the BMC Kewal Mishra said that the BMC has written to RTO over the issue but till date no action has been taken. “The matter need to be sorted out soon as people at offices located at ISBT and regular commuters are facing a lot of problem,” he added.
