Minister for Transport, Abdul Gani Kohli today directed the transport authorities’ to display fare boards across all taxi and bus stands in the city to prevent overcharging, exorbitant fare and monopoly of transporters. He also called for mass publicity of the new tariff structure devised for both stage carriages and contract carriages.The Minister gave these directions while conducting an extensive tour of Srinagar city to inspect stage and contract carriages at various spots including Tourist Reception Centre (TRC), Panthachowk etc.The Minister was accompanied by Transport Commissioner, Mr. Parvez Iqbal Khatib, Regional Tranport Officer, Kashmir and other officers of the Transport Department
Taking strong notice of overloading, the Minister checked documents including registration, insurance, driving license, permits, fitness certificates etc of many passenger vehicles which were found overloaded. He also intercepted and boarded various public transport buses to ascertain seat space and comfort level available for the passengers in these vehicles. He said passenger safety and comfort is of paramount importance and transport department shall take concrete measures to improve it.The Minister expressed his commitment to provide better transport services to the people of the state and in this regard, he added that SRTC and Private Transport services will be strengthened. He also directed for further streamlining the traffic movement in Srinagar city, which he said has seen improvement in the past few weeks.Later, the Minister also visited Shri Amarnathji Yatra transit point at PanthaChowk to take stock of the facilities being provided to the Yatris.He instructed the concerned officers of Tourism department to extend all facilities to the Yatris, stopping at the transit point.