Williamnagar passengers suffer due to lack of direct bus to Shillong

Lone MTC bus caters to Williamnagar and Tura

TURA: There is no respite for the people of East Garo Hills who need to travel to state capital Shillong for work as they depend on the sole Meghalaya Transport Corporation night bus service which takes a detour to Tura before heading out every night.

The students union from the region, East Zone Garo Students Union, have written to Meghalaya transport minister S Dhar highlighting the plight of passengers who embark on the MTC bus from Williamnagar and questioning the rationale behind travelling an additional 75 kms in the opposite direction to Tura before the public transport leaves for Shillong, every night.

“Passengers are suffering immensely by having to endure close to three hours of travel to Tura where they have to wait for hours at the MTC station while the bus takes in more passengers before leaving for Shillong,” stated GSU president Saljrang Tengrak R Marak in the petition letter to the government.

The student union also pointed out that while there are over a dozen private bus operators plying their public transport from Tura to Shillong every night, in the case of Williamnagar people have to depend on the lone MTC service.

“Why should the MTC bus from Williamnagar and passing through Jengjal have to take a diversion and head backwards to Tura?” questioned the students’ body.

Earlier, the MTC bus service use to leave Williamnagar directly for Shillong through the Songsak route, but, due to the absence of additional buses the state transport corporation has been using just one vehicle to pick up passengers from both Williamnagar and Tura.

The Williamnagar-Songsak route of the MTC bus service has to be resumed immediately because people from Songsak and Rongjeng are being compelled to travel all the way to Williamnagar to catch the bus,” urged the union.

They also accused the transport department of apathy as far as maintenance of the MTC station in Williamnagar was concerned.

“The station is more than 20 years and no renovation has taken place. The roof is leaking and there are no seating arrangements for passengers and storage for their luggage. Worse of all is the total absence of any proper toilets and urinals for the passengers,” revealed the students’ union as they called upon the government to take up the matter at the earliest.