By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Meghalaya Urban Development Authority (MUDA) Secretary, T Lyngwa, on Monday clarified that the operation of the Shillong Transport Public Service (STPS) has suffered a setback due to the uneconomical operation of the buses by the Meghalaya Transport Corporation (MTC) which had failed to follow the revenue model prepared by the Urban Affairs Department.
The MUDA Secretary gave the clarification a day after The Shillong Times published a story highlighting the dismal state of affairs of the SPTS.
“Owing to various difficulties MTC had expressed its desire to discontinue the operation of services which compelled MUDA to take over the service with the approval of the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV),” he said.
It was reported that the operation of the STPS buses hit an all-time low ever since the MTC handed over the buses to MUDA on February 1 after the expiry of the one-year agreement.
The MUDA official, however, stated that MTC could not hand over all the fifty buses as many of them were not in road-worthy condition while others had worn out tyres.
“Till date only 33 buses have been handed over by MTC,” he claimed.
According to Lyngwa, five buses, which are in need of major repairs, are currently lying at the MTC Central Workshop while the remaining buses need minor defects.
Reacting to a query that many of the buses have been parked near the Primary Health Centre (PHC) at Mawlai Mawroh without being pressed into service for the benefit of the commuters, Lyngwa stated that those buses were not road worthy and had been parked at various locations and were pending repair.
The MUDA Secretary also claimed that fifty other buses operated by various SHGs were doing well.
He mentioned that 32 buses were being operated by Synroplang Self Help Group, 4 by San Shnong Youth Welfare Association and 14 others by Pioneer Transport and Service Organization.