Sunday, 14 APRIL 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The public transport system in Dehradun will be affected due to about 400 to 550 buses being acquired for election duty. The polling in the Lok Sabha election will take place on April 19, and for this buses including city buses will be used for election purposes starting from April 16. The acquired buses will be utilised to transport booth-level officers, polling officers and polling parties to various polling stations in the hills and surrounding areas. The Transport department has already completed the process of acquiring the buses and city buses from the Vikasnagar-Dakpathar route have also been included in the fleet of buses ready for the elections. Additionally, school buses have also been assigned to election duty. Commenting on the acquisition of the city buses for the election, the Dehradun city bus union president Vijay Vardhan Dandriyal said that the relevant documents have been forwarded to the Election Commission. He said that about 15 to 20 city buses had already been allocated by the commission for election purposes on April 11. It is anticipated that fewer city buses will be used for election duties this time due to the increased number of school and university buses. He further pointed out that the temporary disruption of the public transport system for three days during election duty will inconvenience locals, who may have to resort to costlier taxi services and other modes of transportation. The city buses are expected to be deployed for election duties for about three days from April 17 to 19.
He expressed gratitude to the Election Commission for providing an allowance of Rs 150 for food and Rs 200 per day for the drivers, conductors and helpers of the commercial vehicles acquired for the election. Further, he also informed that the Election Commission has also raised the rental fee of buses to be paid to the city bus union from Rs 1,100 to Rs 2,000.
