Boost to public transportation in State capital
New Delhi: Acceding to persistent demand from the Meghalaya Government, the Centre has approved as many as 240 buses for the State following a meeting of the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) on bus funding and ancillary infrastructure projects under JNNURM.
Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma and Urban Development Minister Ampreeen Lyngdoh had, earlier, met Union Minister for Urban development, Kamal Nath, and requested him for additional buses to ease public transport in the State capital.
The CSMC approved 240 buses for Greater Shillong area of Meghalaya along with request for ITS and bus depots.
The State Government was asked to give a written commitment to bear any operational losses. The State will also meet all the revised norms for sanction of the buses.
The State had placed the request for sanction of more buses for Greater Shillong Area to run the services on new routes as well as to augment the number of buses on existing routes.
Meghalaya, incidentally, has been sanctioned the highest number of buses under the scheme.
Speaking at the meeting, Dr Sudhir Krishna, Secretary, Ministry of urban Development, advised the states to adhere to the new norms laid down for funding of buses in the current year like formation of SPV, installation of ITS, construction of depots, underwriting losses by State Government, among others.
This, he added, will help the cities to build a sustainable and efficient transport system which will bring maximum benefit to the people.
