With the conditions of the Wangdue-Bumthang highway improved, Meto Transport Service also resumed its bus services from Thimphu to central and eastern destinations since yesterday. The service remained suspended for almost a month.
To continue with the operation of the service, conditions have also been drawn among the transport service provider, the Road Safety and Transport Authority (RSTA) and the Department of Roads to maintain the highway for smooth traffic flow.
Meto Transport explained that, earlier, the service was discontinued after eight of its scheduled buses broke down along the east-west highway due to bad road conditions. Today, all the buses have been repaired.
“The highway is blocked at many places. Also, due to the rain, the soil has become fragile and there are frequent landslides. Moreover, since heavy vehicles also use the route, they leave behind big potholes,” said Sherab Tenzin, the bus driver of Meto Transport. “We get stuck in such and our passengers have to suffer since they are compelled to push the bus. Their lives are also at risk due to falling boulders. We usually end up spending nights on the way.”
While the service has been resumed, the RSTA said the public transport operators cannot suspend their service as per their will.
“We have agreement drawn between the RSTA and the service operators as per which they are required to provide service without disruptions as per the schedule and frequency agreed between RSTA and service provider,” said Prem P. Adhikari, Chief Regional Transport Officer of RSTA Office in Thimphu.
Earlier this month, six public transport operators also submitted a petition to the RSTA and DoR requesting to improve the conditions of the East-West highway for the bus services to continue.
“From our side, we didn’t take any action because their submission was also valid because their buses which were on the scheduled road broke down because of road condition,” said Prem P. Adhikari.
He added that considering the road conditions, if need be, the RSTA will also look at increasing the bus fares. It will require the service operators to submit an estimate of fuel and maintenance cost among others.
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