PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Ramnagar
Ironically, while the Central and state governments are promoting online services, passengers in Ramnagar— the gateway to the Kumaon and Garhwal regions— are relying upon the traditional system to reserve seats on Uttarakhand Transport Corporation (UTC) buses.
The absence of an online seat-booking facility for buses operated by the Ramnagar depot to Delhi, Dehradun and other major cities is leaving passengers jostle among one another at the bus stand to secure seats. Notably, the online booking was suspended with buses deployed for Char Dham Yatra
A large number of passengers travel daily from Ramnagar and the surrounding hilly areas to Delhi, Dehradun and other cities. To facilitate travel, the UTC provides online seat reservation through the UTC Pathik Traveller app, allowing passengers to book seats from home.
However, the facility is currently unavailable for the Ramnagar depot. Passengers travelling from Delhi or Dehradun to Ramnagar, or from Ramnagar to these cities, are unable to reserve seats for Ramnagar and Kashipur through this app. As a result, they have to reach the bus stand and face queues and overcrowding to get a seat.
With the crucial Assembly election approaching, the opposition parties are latching on to this issue. The president of Uttarakhand Parivartan Party, Prabhat Dhyani said that while the government keeps encouraging people to make greater use of online services, the suspension of online booking in an important public transport service, inconveniencing the passengers, runs contrary to its avowed stand. “Online booking should be made available for all buses operating to and from Ramnagar, which is an important tourism and transport hub,” he demanded.
Queried over the matter, the ARM, Ramnagar depot, Naveen Arya said that online booking had earlier been available from the depot. “However, the facility was suspended as a large number of buses from the Ramnagar depot were deployed for the Char Dham Yatra. The senior officials have been informed about the issue,” he said, adding that the online booking facility is expected to be restored once the buses return and normal operations resume.
