Reports indicate that Srinagar town in Jammu and Kashmir is suffering from shortage of buses despite the central government allocating sufficient number of rolling stocks under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

It is learnt that the city is facing shortage of buses as the city corporation violated rules by renting out buses to Army to “generate revenue.”

Further, it is reported that about 65 of buses are virtually rusting in workshops of State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) as they have suffered massive damages and developed mechanical faults after made to ply in hilly areas. These buses were specially designed for urban areas and for shorter distances, he said.

Reports indicate that at present, among 40 small buses, 11 are lying in workshops while 10 are running on Srinagar- Jammu highway. Another six to eight of them are used for ferrying tourists to Gulmarg, Pahalgam and other tourist spots while the remaining eight to 10 buses are running in Srinagar City, albeit lately.

Following this, the union urban ministry asked the state government to submit a certificate to that JNNURM buses are not being run on inter-city routes and threatened to stop sanction of funds if state fails to submit the same.

While the centre released first and second installment of the funds for procurement of the buses, the third installment has been linked to initiating of reforms in urban transport sector.