PANJIM: Even after almost one
and half months since the Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) introduced
the double decker buses with open roofs, the service is yet to be flagged off
as it is still awaiting a green signal from the State Transport Department.
Sources reveal the
Transport department is still clueless about the operations as there are no
provisions and notifications to ply this buses on Goan roads.
The Pune-based M/s
Prassana Purple Mobility Pvt Ltd in collaboration with GTDC had obtained the
contract for operating these open roof buses along the coastal belt routes and
Panjim city so that the tourists get a beautiful view of Goa but it has been
almost two months that the buses are just lying in the GTDC premises unused
just because the registration has been put on hold by the authorities over
failure of notification to ply such type of buses on Goan roads.
These Double Decker
buses were built on Ashok Leyland Lynx Chasis and can accommodate over 60
passengers at one go.
Speaking to Herald,
Deputy Director of Transport (North) Prakash Azavedo said “These Hop-on bus are
not registered as there are no rules notified by the state government for these
type of buses. It has come to our knowledge that the central government is in
the process of issuing a notification for plying such kind of buses. Once that
notification comes we will have to comply with those specifications and then
only we can register such kind of buses”
However, officials
have said that these buses will have a location based multi-lingual running
commentary about the monuments and its history with the help of mobile app.
These services will
also have well trained tour guides and guest relationship executives to assist
tourists. The officials have further claimed that tourists will have an option
of taking a 1 or 2 day pass.
“We have put on these
buses in a joint collaboration with the GTDC and everything is ready just that
we are not in a position to register these buses with the transport authorities
as there in no provision for such buses in Goa. We have even submitted all the
necessary documents with the transport authorities and it has already been two
months but no one is interested in these vehicles. We run similar buses in
Srinagar and Jaipur and have got very positive response” said Rohit Pardesi,
Director, Purple Mobility Pvt Ltd
He further said that
these buses were to be introduced from the Paryatan Bhavan at Patto right up to
Donapaula and back with stoppage at Miramar, Goa science centre and similarly
up to Old Goa with stoppages at Casinos and churches across Old Goa.
Despite several
attempts no GTDC official was ready to comment on the issue sighting the
election code of conduct in force.
Meanwhile, the GTDC
has been launching new and innovative concepts to promote tourism in Goa like
hot air balloons, Cruises, Paragliding, Amphibious vehicles and now the Hop-in
buses but on the other hand GTDC should first make sure before that there are
provisions and rules for such type of activities before going ahead with such
expensive projects.
