Last Updated on January 13, 2022 at 1:25 pm
The much-hyped ladies special bus service in Srinagar has disappeared from the roads. When the women’s special buses were launched, it received a positive response in Srinagar mainly from college girls who boarded these buses.
To curb the menace of harassment women use to face while boarding the general public buses, a special bus service was launched in April 2016 by Jammu and Kashmir Road Transport Corporation (JKSRTC). On various routes of Srinagar city this bus service could be witnessed only for female passengers.
The services included five special buses in the city especially for women passengers. But the then taken initiative seems to have vanished in air now since these buses can be seen nowhere seen running on the city roads.
One of the female passenger said that they have to suffer a lot while travelling in general public buses in massive crowd especially in peak hours of morning and evening.
She further added that women have to face harassment many times in crowded buses. Another female commuter added that ladies special bus service was very useful for girls as they use to travel very often in these buses.
Initially the route was launched between Lal Chowk to Hazratbal via Rainawari which bypasses Kashmir University campus, further from Lal Chowk to Soura via SMHS hospital and Nowgam Railway station to Lal Chowk via Pantha Chowk.
Reshi said that due to Covid-19 lockdown, they didn’t receive any response on the special bus service, as schools, colleges, universities were shut for a long time, and therefore they stopped the service earlier.
Manager SRTC, Habibullah Reshi said that due to the Covid-19 pandemic the service was stopped by the concerned authorities, however, the bus service will resume in the next couple of days.
