Dumped 'Khatara' Buses and Unchecked Truck Unloading Choke Shimla Roads; Commuters Cry Foul Over Skewed Policies
SHIMLA: A glaring mix of administrative apathy, lopsided transport policies, and lax traffic enforcement brought stretches of the state capital to a grinding halt today, leaving hundreds of schoolchildren, teachers, and daily office-goers stranded.
Traffic chaos erupted on the busy BCS–Kangnadhar road earlier today when a dilapidated local Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) bus broke down right in the middle of the narrow thoroughfare.
The dysfunctional vehicle blocked the entire stretch for well over an hour before the police finally summoned a mechanic to repair the bus and clear the way.
The prolonged blockade caused immense inconvenience to local pedestrians and commuters, ultimately forcing several students and teachers to cancel their plans and turn back midway.
Capital turned into a dumping ground for obsolete buses
Today’s breakdown serves as fresh proof of what residents call the systematic dumping of aging, ill-maintained (khatara) buses across Shimla district and the capital city’s local routes.
Commuters have expressed strong resentment over the state's lopsided fleet distribution. The move to divert modern electric buses in a bid to turn Una into an "Electric District" by Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri has been widely criticized as both unjustifiable and a grave injustice to commuters across the rest of the state, who are left to rely on mechanically failing buses on treacherous hill roads.
Brazen peak-hour violations on Shimla Bypass
Compounding the city's traffic woes is the daily evening gridlock on the main Shimla Bypass road. Despite being one of the busiest arteries in the capital—handling heavy local traffic alongside massive commercial vehicles travelling from hydro-project areas toward Chandigarh—the highway remains choked by illegal roadside operations.
Hardware dealers mainly Mahunag near BCS continue to treat the highway as a private loading bay.
Heavy trucks routinely park on the right side of the road to unload hardware material during peak evening hours, severely obstructing the flow of traffic.
What has angered locals most is that this daily blockade happens right under the nose of the police without any intervention.
Furthermore, there has been a complete failure by the District Collector (DC) and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) to issue or enforce a strict notification restricting the loading and unloading of commercial vehicles during peak hours on the bypass, leaving daily commuters at the mercy of perpetual traffic jams.
