Saturday, 29 July 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
A day after taking possession of Inter State Bus Terminal (ISBT) from Ramky Company, the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) has decided to form a committee to revamp the whole bus terminal to provide a better experience and services to passengers. The committee will discuss all factors from budgets to development works necessary to improve the services in ISBT, said the MDDA secretary MS Barnia.
Ramky was handling the operation of ISBT on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis for 20 years but several controversies regarding irregularities there surfaced during this time period. The company reportedly failed to comply with several terms and conditions of its contract with MDDA according to which, it was supposed to build a six-storey building with a mini mall, hotel and waiting room for passengers and rest rooms for drivers and conductors among others. The company is yet to pay pending payments of several months amounting to about Rs 13 crore to MDDA as per the officials. Considering all these issues, authorities decided that MDDA will be given the charge of operating ISBT but Ramky was reluctant to sign documents that would legally transfer the charge to MDDA. The officials had to eventually call the police on Thursday to make the company sign the documents to get possession of ISBT.
Barnia said that MDDA has now got possession of ISBT and will soon start working on development works. Authorities have also sent a notice to Ramky to pay all dues soon. Barnia said that MDDA is now gearing up to give ISBT a facelift that it expected Ramky to do for years. He said that a committee will be formed soon with officials concerned to analyse the whole situation before commencing the work. “The committee will analyse various aspects like budget, what are current sources of revenues to pay employees and how many we need to create more to get consistent revenue. It will also discuss what development works should be done at a priority level and which facilities should be improved and introduced in ISBT,” added Barnia.
