HP govt to introduce system for timely bus departures

The Himachal Pradesh government will introduce a system to ensure timely departure of buses from depots at five important tourist towns of the state, Transport Minister G S Bali said today.
Initially, the system would be put into service in these towns and later introduced in other parts of the state, he said during the 4th meeting of the State Transport Development and Road Safety Council here.
The corpus fund for the welfare of drivers and conductors employed in the private sector would also be created by the government, Bali said.
The fund will be utilised to give ex gratia relief to them after a certain period of service, the records of which will be maintained by the Transport Department in a digital format, the minister said.

Bali said that road safety was a major concern and violations of traffic rules will not be tolerated.
He ordered that all junk vehicles parked on roads should be removed within 15 days by the transport and the police departments.

A special run for road safety will be organised at Nagrota on August 12 to generate awareness, and 20,000 women and 10,000 men are expected to participate in the event, Bali said.
He said that the public works department (PWD), the police and the transport department have been allocated Rs 50 crore, Rs 2 crore and Rs 1 crore, respectively, for road safety.

The minister asked PWD authorities for early removal of 'black spots' from roads to thwart accidents and directed officials to ensure proper signages and removal of private hoardings.
It was also apprised that more than 300 black spots were identified out of which 90 black spots needed immediate attention of the PWD.
He said Korean Crash Barriers would be installed at danger zones in Chamba, Kangra, Shimla and Sirmour districts.
Bali said that he had also issued an advisory for not taking vehicles on 'kachcha' spots on the roads.