History of Motor Transport in J&K

History of Motor Transport in J&K

If we turn the pages of history of road development in Jammu & Kashmir, we find that during Dogra period there were only three major roads:
• Rawalpindi- Srinagar road named as Jhelum valley road. It was opened for traffic in 1890. It was 132 km long.
• BC Road. Jammu to Srinagar (Banihal Cartroad). It was opened for traffic during Dogra rule by constructing a bridge over Chenab river at Ramban.
• Jammu City Roads Link to adjoining villages. They were opened for traffic by constructing a suspension bridge over Tawi river in 1921-22 with the cost of rupees 23,043.
There were no central enactment of laws for roads up to 1939. The princely states and British India were governed by separate Acts. In J&K state the first Motor Vehicles Act came into being in 1919. In the same year two buses (lorries) were imported by M/S Lalu Shah Shiv Ram of Kanak Mandi Jammu. In Kashmir there was no vehicle yet but Dhanji Bhai introduced motor vehicles for carrying mails.
The number of vehicles increased with the commencement of the second world war, after which the following transport companies were formed:
• Allied Chirag Din Sons (Kashmir)
• Royal Darbar Bus
Service (Kashmir)
• Green Bus Service (Kashmir)
• Lahore, Sialkot, Kashmir
company (Jammu)
• Union Bus Service (Jammu)
• Kathua Motor Union (Jammu)
The first J&K Motor Vehicle Act was passed in 1919 with the Inspector General of Police (IGP) declared as the registering and passing authority. The central Indian Motor Vehicle Act 1939 (Section 58) clearly laid down the policy of route permits. The state motor vehicle act was amended by the state government later but the IGP continued to be the transport controller.
This system continued till 1948. In 1948 the J&K government started its own transport company under the controllership of a police officer, S.M. Aga. He was in charge of both private and government transport. The government transport undertaking was established in June 1948, originally as a government department with a loan of Rs 57 lakhs advanced by the government which was repaid by the GTU with interest to the state government.
The state government transport undertaking was established with 256 vehicles in 1948 and its strength increased to 407 by an addition of 251 vehicles in 1950-51. The increase was made to meet the rising demand of people and government both. Addition of vehicles was made every year; it was 608 vehicles in 1960-61. It provided employment to 1,883 persons at different levels at that time.
During the Sino-India war 1962 and Indo-Pak war 1965, the GTU performed a remarkable feat of maintaining un-interrupted flow of essential goods and services. The number of vehicles was increased to 935 in 1963-64 and to 1,087 in 1965-66 by an addition of 256 vehicles in 1963-64 and 167 vehicles in 1965-66 respectively. This increases in vehicles also raised the number of employees to 3,002. In the last year of the decade, 1969-70, another 108 vehicles were added, raising the fleet strength to 1,195 and employees strength to 3,627. The GTU was operating 135 routes both in the state and outside the state.
In 1971 war again broke out between India and Pakistan. This affected our state badly. The need for transport services to supply goods, ferry passengers and army increased. The GTU increased its fleet to 1,335 vehicles in 1972-73 and operation of vehicles from 135 routes to 155 routes. By this addition the number of workers at different level went up to 4,747. In the last year of this decade, the number of vehicles came down to 1,305. It was due to shortage of funds and auction of old vehicles. But the recruitment of employees continued to rise, to reach the level of 5,876 employees. The increase in the number of employees and the reduction in the fleet led to shortfall in profit. In this decade the government transport undertaking was converted into ‘State Road Transport Corporation’ vide Government order No.TR-847/76 dated 14-07-1976.
At the time of formation of State Road Transport Corporation, It had 1,246 vehicles operating on 155 routes with employee strength at 5,442. The Government Transport Undertaking was maintaining 3 Transport Yards in 1955-56 which increased to 17 in 1980-81. These yards were located at all district headquarters besides the regional transport yards at Jammu, Srinagar, Pathankot and Delhi.
The decline of JKSRTC
During the first 3 years of the decade of 1980s, the number of vehicles decreased from 1,432 in 1980-81 to 1,327 in 1984-83 but the number of employees increased to 6,003. The corporation extended its operation to 23 more routes. In 1984-85 and 1985-86 the corporation added 167 vehicles to its fleet every year to take its fleet strength to 1,661 at the end of 1985-86. In the last four years of the decade the fleet strength decreased to 1,588 vehicles while the staff strength increased to ,6193. It created a surplus crew. The number of routes operated increased from 254 to 273 during this period.
The SRTC was not managed properly by professionally and technically qualified persons. Management of this organisation was carried out by bureaucrats who created a number of problems apart from under-utilisation of capacity. There was no system of inventory control or proper system of maintenance and upkeep of vehicles in workshops. There was lack of commitment on the part of the managers and other employees, which raised the level of inefficiency in the organisation.
Political leaders also pressured the management to ply buses on such routes which did not meet operating costs. They did it to please their voters/ people of their area and did not bother about the losses suffered by the corporation.
Apart from the pressure of political leaders, there grew a nexus between private operators and SRTC functionaries. Often the private players influenced the SRTC functionaries to cancel their vehicles/ buses on some of their routes. This adversely affected vehicle capacity utilisation.
Poor workshop facilities were another reason for the decline of the corporation. The workshops were ill- equipped to undertake necessary repairs. Often, necessary spares and even tools were not available. This situation was created due to wrong and irrational policies. Some MDs/officers instead of ordering fast-moving items for workshops preferred such items which have still not disappeared from storerooms. Vehicle would come out of the workshop after a long period ranging from a month to six to eight months. This resulted in long queues of sick vehicles.
Most of the vehicles were operated on inter-state routes and on the national highway between Jammu and Srinagar. They reached Jammu and Srinagar in the evenings in the late hours. They did not get workshop facilities at night and had to start their journey again in the early morning. Vehicles remained un-attended or ill maintained which often resulted in their breakdown.
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