SHILLONG: The state government is soon going to start the process of disposing of around 50 SPTS buses.
Speaking to The Shillong Times recently, Urban Affairs Minister Hamlet Dohling said the government will float a tender after which interested parties can assess the condition of the buses and those which cannot be repaired will be disposed of.
According to Dohling, he recently had a meeting with bus operators and they have been asked to maintain the buses so that they, along with the government and common people are benefitted. The minister has also asked the operators to direct their drivers and conductors to keep the buses clean, besides ensuring discipline. “Now we don’t want to get any complaint that passengers are being harassed,” he said while urging people to come forward and lodge complaint if there is any instance of bad conduct by either drivers or conductors of SPTS buses.
The Centre has given 120 buses to Meghalaya under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme, now known as Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation scheme.
These JNNURM buses come under Shillong Public Transport Service, launched by chief minister Mukul Sangma on July 22, 2011.
Besides JNNURM buses, the state government also pressed into service similar buses along with maxi taxis funded by the Centre under the 13th Finance Commission.
But in a span of over seven years, many of the SPTS buses and maxi cabs have gone kaput while the condition of many vehicles plying on city roads is far from satisfactory.
