Mohali local bus service project resumes

The long wait for local buses for city residents may soon end as the Punjab Transport Department is working to roll out 180 electric buses by the next financial year.

Following the directions of the transport department, the Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company (PMIDC) hired a Delhi-based consultant in April this year to prepare a report on the project.

Working on the feasibility study, the consultant, after also mapping out the routes, is expected to submit a report by the end of this month.

“We have proposed to introduce 180 electric buses in Mohali. Once we receive the report, we will seek approval from the state government. The budget will be finalized based on the report as each electric bus costs approximately ₹1.25 crore,” said a senior PMIDC officer.

Over the last decade, Mohali has seen significant growth with several new sectors emerging, increasing the demand for local bus services spanning the length and breadth of it.

Due to the lack of its own local bus service in Mohali, the city’s residents currently rely on the services of the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU), which serves Mohali on limited routes.

Over the past decade, the civic body has made several unsuccessful attempts to launch the project. Finally, in April last year, the state government handed over the project to the state transport department, following which PMIDC initiated a feasibility study.

Stuck in the slow lane for a decade.

The proposal for a city bus service in Mohali was initially mooted in 2012 when the Mohali Municipal Corporation (MC) planned to operate buses on 14 routes.

In 2016, the MK also decided to open a bus service. However, the Punjab Local Government Department did not give approval, although the civic body allocated a budget of ₹2 crore and in the first phase it is planned to run 50 buses on selected routes.

In June 2017, the then district transport officer Jasbir Singh identified these routes and submitted a draft proposal for approval to the Regional Transport Office (RTO) in Punjab, but nothing moved on the ground.

Two years later, in December 2019, the then deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan wrote to the local government director seeking approval for the local bus service.

In November 2021, the MC approved a proposal to hand over the bus service to a private company in exchange for advertising rights. The plan included eight routes within the MK, but it never saw the light of day.

About a decade ago, the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) also completed route development for the bus service, but the project was subsequently shelved.

Local MP Kulwant Singh said: “When I was mayor, we approved the budget and even the routes were finalized. We hope the buses will be operational soon. Initially, over 100 buses will be introduced in the first phase, which will bring relief to the people of Mohali who currently rely entirely on CTU bus services. Residents have been waiting for this service for many years.”