Sunday, 20 March 2022 | PNS | Dehradun
Though Uttarakhand Transport Corporation (UTC) witnessed a heavy rush of passengers this Holi, the officials of the corporation said that the rush was nowhere near the rush during the pre-Covid times. The divisional manager of UTC in Dehradun, Sanjay Gupta said that the roadways’ business was severely affected during Holi in the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic but the number of passengers certainly increased this year. However, it was only about half of the usual number of passengers on Holi before the pandemic hit the State. He said, “The roadways did all preparations considering how many passengers struggle to get the tickets during the festival season to get to their destinations. We started the operation of some buses through certain routes to avoid traffic and cover the maximum number of turns possible for the drivers. It was aimed at ensuging that the commuters reach their destinations on time and UTC can increase the number of turns on certain routes too. The response was great compared to the conditions of the past two years. There was a 25 per cent increase in the number of passengers this time than the usual days. This percentage was quite low in 2020 and 2021. However, the increase in the number of passengers during Holi has always been equal or above 50 per cent before 2020.” Gupta said that probably many were reluctant to return to homes during this Holi considering how Covid-19 contagion has increased mostly after Holi in the past two years. However, the situation is better now and all will return to normal for UTC too, added Singh
