By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, July 30: A day after the state government decided to restrict the movement of heavy vehicles on the Umiam dam and bridges, the inter-state bus operators on Tuesday asked if the ISBT at Mawiong was constructed for morning walkers.
Umiam has been the temporary bus terminus for the past seven months when repair work on the dam began.
Miffed by the government’s “illogical” decision to prevent the night super buses from plying on the dam, the bus operators said a bus has to cover 180 km more every day by being made to use the Umiam-Shillong Bypass-Mawryngkneng-Shillong Road.
“Passengers are reluctant to pay the extra amount we spend on fuel to cover this distance,” a bus operator said, failing to understand why the ISBT cannot be used when the dam has been repaired.
The bus operators pointed out that the Umiam bus terminus does not have proper toilets and drinking water facilities. The passengers get drenched when it rains as the place has no shed.
“If the current situation continues, the bus operators will stop their services from Shillong,” an operator said.
More than 500 passengers from Shillong to other states by bus every day and the destination for almost half of them is Siliguri in West Bengal.
The government said the restriction on heavy vehicles is for the safety of the dam which was retrofitted recently for about Rs 20 crore.
Traffic snarls continue
The Umiam dam and bridge which was finally opened to traffic from both ways on Tuesday after a 7-month-long continues to witness traffic snarls.
Commuters expected smooth flow of traffic but were in for a shock as they were made to wait around 40 minutes to cross the bridge as MeECL workers were installing barriers for restricting movement of heavy vehicles. “They were taking necessary measurements for the high barrier and this caused a light traffic snarl in the area for 35-40 minutes,” a police official said.