Torn between JMC, JDA qualms, Bus stand showcases official apathy

Torn between JMC, JDA qualms, Bus stand showcases official apathy
Nitesh Sangral	10/22/2012 6:57:54 PM
JAMMU, Oct 22: Torn between the internal qualms of Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) and Jammu Development Authority (JDA), it is the perfect showpiece of official neglect. Even as the General Bus Stand caters to thousands of commercial and private vehicles every day, it is among one of the most neglected spots in the city. The unhygienic condition tells the tale of the indifferent attitude of the authorities towards this place which is among one of the busiest bus-stands in the northern India. The bus stand has become a pain for not only passengers, but also for local shopkeepers. The shopkeepers are forced to operate in such unhealthy condition. Apart from being one of the dirtiest spots, lack of proper parking space for the vehicles results in frequent road jams as the buses are forced to park on the roads. One could witness the grim scenario at BC Road daily in the morning and at the evening hours, which witnesses heavy influx of buses plying both on inter state and routes within the state. “Almost all the inter-state vehicles operate from the bus stand spread over 52 kanals of land which include vehicles from Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Utter Pradesh, Uttrakhand, and Delhi but in absence of proper parking, these can been seen parked in most haphazard manner. Similar is the condition of the busses plying on inter-district routes”, said Madhu Sharma, president Bus Stand Shopkeepers Association. At most of the time, traffic snarls are also a common sight on this stretch of the national highway where frequent jams present a common scene with buses stopping at their convenience to aboard the passengers. Not only this main bus stand of the city has been reduced to a mockery as the Banihal Cart (BC) road where private buses operate illegally, has been turned into a parallel bus stand. “These private buses which pick passengers for Poonch, Banihal, Chamb, Doda, Katra Srinagar, and also outside the state for Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Chandigarh and Rajasthan, are not permitted to pick individual passengers, but they are doing it openly and indiscriminately”, said a SRTC driver, Amarjeet Singh.