Shimla, September 18: The Himachal Pradesh government has mandated that new buses plying on surrendered routes by the Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) must comply with BS-6 emission norms. The move is part of a broader effort to improve the state’s public transport system while minimising the impact on the environment.
Private bus operators interested in these routes will have to run BS-6 compliant buses. However, if they have buses less than 15 years old, they will still be allowed to run those vehicles. The government has also eased operational restrictions by removing the 60:40 condition, which earlier required operators to allocate 60% of their fleet to rural routes and 40% to urban routes.
The relaxation is aimed at increasing the number of applications from private operators so that more buses are available to serve both rural and urban areas. “Private operators will have to run BS-6 buses on 168 routes surrendered by HRTC unless they have buses that are less than 15 years old,” confirmed Naresh Thakur, assistant commissioner, transport department.
The HRTC has returned several routes to the state citing operational losses, affecting 11 depots. These include 37 routes in Shimla, 9 in Rampur, 37 in Mandi, 10 in Solan, 4 in Sirmaur, 6 in Hamirpur, 10 in Bilaspur, 8 in Una, 7 in Nalagarh, 32 in Dharamshala and 8 routes of Kullu depot. These routes handed over due to financial stress will now be operated by private companies.
In response to complaints of irregularities, the transport department has sent the route list back to the HRTC and directed them to review the allocation with regional transport officers and submit a revised list. The move is expected to streamline the process and ensure transparency in route allocation.
Continuing the achievement of the journey of effectiveness and credibility of more than 10 years in the career of journalism, as a woman journalist, I am Serving as the founder, promoter and editor of DiaryTimes with the trust and support of all. My credible coverage may not have given a big shape to the numbers, but my journey presents articles that make you aware of the exact and meaningful situations of Himachal’s politics, ground issues related to the public, business, tourism and the difficult geographical conditions of the state and financial awareness. DiaryTimes, full of the experience of my precise editorial expertise, is awakening the flame of credible journalism among all of you, so that the eternal flame of meaningful change can be lit in the life of the people of the state and the atrocities being committed against the people can be brought to the fore, I am motivated for that. If even a small change comes with the power of my journalism and the whole world becomes a witness to that issues, then I will consider myself fortunate.
