The enforcement branch of Shillong Police has begun a drive against combating the menace of overloading in city buses and mini buses. The operation is carried out at key points twice daily during rush hours.
A team of policemen make physical verification of the buses to ensure that the specified number of passengers are on board. In some cases excess passengers are asked to get down. In a few cases, the licences of the drivers were sized for violation of the rules.
According to the rules, city buses are allowed only ten standing passengers. The mini buses are, however, not allowed any standing passengers.
Police said that there had been public complaints of various inconveniences faced owing to overloading in city buses. Some cases of pick pocketing were also reported from the city bus commuters.
Although there has been a general welcome of the police vigilance against overloading, the commuters who are eager to reach their destinations quickly, find the exercised too frustrating. Some of them have expressed their ire for the lack of additional bus services during the rush hours. It has been generally felt that the Govt. should direct the bus syndicate to increase the frequency of bus services at least during the rush hours.