Low floor buses to start plying on Imphal roads shortly

By Paojel Chaoba
IMPHAL July 8: The 11 low floor buses which had been sanctioned to the transport department by the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission will be made operational shortly under a public private partnership scheme.

Talking to IFP, deputy director of the state transport department Shivdas said that under the guidelines of JNURM, a body titled United Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) has been set up and registered under the Manipur Societies Registration Act,1989 on May 17 last.

The body is set up to envisage and formulate various modalities including framing of policies, rules and regulations including financial norms for the management and operations of the semi low floor buses which is stipulated to operate within Imphal area.

The board of management of the UMTA includes the transport minister as chairman of the board, and the transport director, deputy commissioner, MAHUD commissioner and including the concerned SPs, make up the rest of the board and consists of 15 members.

Another sub committee which has the directive to examine the staffs, the route pattern, the administrative operations and staffing for the buses will be headed by the chief town planner. The frequencies, time tables and terminal points are chalked out by another sub committee headed by the commissioner of the transport department and routes have been identified at present, he maintained.

It may be mentioned that out of the JNURM package of 25 buses, only 11 have arrived at the state though the state has yet to see the service. Sources said that post the next meeting of the UMTA, the date for launching the buses will be announced shortly after the selection of the interested private parties.

State of the art waiting sheds have already been set up at different locations around Imphal area.

According to statistics of the transport department, at present there are 1,86,877 registered vehicles plying in the state. The majority consists of two wheelers at 1,30,100 numbers , three wheelers at 10,088 numbers, light motor vehicles at 33,407 and heavy motor vehicles at 13,282 numbers. The taxes collected from the vehicles for the last financial year amounts to Rs 98,69,437.