CM reviews performance of Transport Dept
By Our Staff Reporter’
Dehradun, 5 Jan: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a review meeting of the Transport Department at the Secretariat here today. During the meeting he directed that all the bus stations in the state should be made clean and equipped with modern amenities. He also directed that crash barriers and trees should be planted along roads in accident prone areas. To prevent accidents, special care should be taken for fitness testing of vehicles. Dhami also directed that proper arrangements should also be made for training and medical treatment of vehicle drivers. He also emphasised the importance of making people constantly aware of traffic rules. He also said that important schemes of the government should also be publicised through roadways buses.
Another important direction he issued in today’s meeting was regarding replacing old vehicles in the hills with new vehicles in view of public safety. The Chief Minister noted that the number of devotees and tourists in Uttarakhand is increasing rapidly every year. In view of this, all modern amenities be provided in the new and old bus stations in the state to ensure convenience of the passengers. Special attention should be paid to cleanliness, drinking water and other basic facilities at all bus stations. The Chief Minister said that bus service should be operated for Ayodhya from Dehradun, Haldwani and Haridwar. It should be ensured that the number plates on vehicles are clearly visible; strict action should also be taken against those who tamper with number plates.
It was claimed by the officials in the meeting that the condition of Uttarakhand Transport Corporation (UTC) has continuously improved in the last two financial years. In the financial year 2022-23, the corporation made a profit of Rs 29.06 crores, whereas so far in this financial year it has already made a profit of Rs 27 crores. The revenue receipts of the Transport Department have also increased continuously in the last two financial years. There has been an increase of 20.86 percent in revenue in 2021-22 and 34.52 percent in 2022-23. So far in this financial year, there has been an increase of 11.20 percent in the revenue as compared to last year. Funds have been released for the construction of vehicle testing centres in Uttarkashi and Pithoragarh. The construction work on ISBT in Almora is about to be completed. It was also stated that 58 services are being provided online by the Transport Department. All licence related services have been made online. 20 services related to registration and 08 services related to permit are being provided online.
It was also shared that to strengthen enforcement operations, ANPR cameras have been installed at 10 identified locations in the state, while more are being installed at 17 locations. 9 interceptor vehicles and 30 bike squads have also been deployed. In view of road safety, vehicle location tracking devices have been installed in 66811 vehicles. VLTD has been installed on 35515 vehicles in 2023. Automated driving test tracks have been made by the Transport Department in Dehradun, Rishikesh, Haridwar and Kotdwar. Process of Automated Driving Test Track is in progress in Kashipur, Almora, Uttarkashi, Pithoragarh, Roorkee, Haldwani and Ramnagar. 22 MoUs worth Rs 3513 crore have been signed with the Transport Department in the Global Investors Summit. They have been identified with high, medium and low priority and action is being taken to bring them to ground them.
On this occasion, Deputy Chairman Infrastructure Monitoring Committee Vishwas Dawar, Additional Chief Secretary Radha Raturi, Secretary R Meenakshi Sundaram, Secretary Transport Arvind Singh Hyanki, MD Uttarakhand Transport Corporation Dr Anand Srivastava, officials of Transport Department and Transport Corporation were present.
