BJP MLA Vs Luxury bus owners: Hundreds of passengers left in the lurch in Surat

Surat : Tens of hundreds of tourists traveling in private luxury buses to the diamond city of Surat were stranded when the buses halted on the city’s outskirts at Valak Patiya in Kamrej taluka.

As BJP Legislator for Varachha, Kumar Kanani, brought up the traffic problem caused by luxury buses, the Surat Luxury Bus Owners Association swiftly decided to have passengers board and disembark at Valak Patiya.

Kanani, a senior BJP legislator pointed out the fact that the luxury buses enter into the city limits before they are legally entitled for in the notification issued by the Surat Police department. This illegal activity causes scenes of traffic jams in the morning and evening hours in Varachha, Katargam, and Mahidharpura. The BJP MLA demanded that such elements should be dealt with strictly under the law and the police must ensure they are allowed entry into the city only after 10 pm.

However, the Surat Luxury Bus operators association in a fit of anger to teach lesson to the BJP MLA, unanimously decided to load and disembark the passengers on the outskirts of the city starting from February 21.

“If the senior BJP MLA has problem with the luxury buses entering the city and causing traffic jams then we will load and disembark the passengers on the outskirts of the city” said Dinesh Anghan, president of Surat Luxury Bus Operators’ Association. “People will have to bear with us as the MLA has raised the issue”

As per an estimate, over 1 lakh people opt for the luxury buses to travel to and fro from Surat and other districts in North Gujarat, Saurashtra and Central Gujarat.

In an interview, BJP MLA Kumar Kanani said, “I have not said that the luxury buses will have to pick and drop the passengers on the outskirt of the city. A large number of people faced difficulties arriving into the city from Valak Patiya”

In a letter to the State Government, BJP MLA Kanani has demanded that the government should introduce sleeper coaches in the State Transport buses for the long distance travelling by the passengers. This according to Kanani will resolve the sole dependency of the passengers on the private luxury coaches offering sleeper services.