STPS buses remain idle as file gather dust

By Our Reporter

SHILLONG, DEC 1: The bureaucratic and ministerial inertia has delayed the operation of the 136 Shillong Transport Public Service (STPS) buses lying idle in three different depots. The 136 STPS buses could have immensely benefitted the public transport system in the state and might even have helped in reducing the traffic congestion in the city.

Sources informed that the file for approval of private operators shortlisted for operating the buses after the tender was floated is parked in the secretariat. The movement of the file has been agonisely slow and nobody knows when it will receive Meghalaya urban affairs minister Ronnie V Lyngdoh’s approval.

While the file is gathering dust in the Meghalaya secretariat, the 136 buses are rotting in three depots- Laitkor, Mawblei and Nongmynsong. Some of the buses are now damaged with broken windshield and other minor mechanical defects.

It is intriguing as to why the file is lying idle in the secretariat when the list of private operators had already been shortlisted after tender was floated in December 2015.

It is almost a year after the first lots of the buses meant for public transportation arrived in Shillong. The first batch of the 136 buses arrived in October 2015 and the last batch one on April 2016.

Seven private operators for operating the STPS buses have also been identified after tender was floated.  Besides Laikyrsoi society and L Nonglait, the other five operators that have been identified for operating the new STPS buses are Meghalaya Transport Corporation (MTC), S Lyngdoh, John Basaiwmoit, Seven Brothers and W Chyne.

However, these operators have to wait till the file finds the time and approval of the minister even as the buses are exposed