Residents in city periphery rue lack of public transport

The important routes in the winter capital may have no issues regarding availability of transport where private Matadors are plying till late evening, but the routes on the outskirts are deprived of this luxury as residents of many towns/villages adjoining Jammu city have to wait for long hours to reach their homes and offices.
Sources said around 80 permits had been issued by the J&K Motor Vehicles Department to private Matadors plying on the Gandhi Nagar/Shastri Nagar to Panjtirthi route in the city, while on the Panjtirthi to Trikuta Nagar route, it was around 75 to 80.
For other important routes like Talab Tillo to Panjtirthi, Gangyal to Parade, Parade to Rajpura, Parade to Subash Nagar more than 50 permits have been issued for the convenience of passengers of these areas.
One of the routes on the city outskirts is Kunjwani-Sehora for which a few permits have been issued to the Matadors to ply. As a result a large number of passengers can be seen waiting on roadsides, particularly women, schoolchildren and old persons. Not only that, Matodors tend to accommodate more passengers in them than their capacity on such routes due to lack of transport.
Another route is Raipur-Satwari, where the Matador service is worst. There are more than 30 villages on the route, but not many permits have been issued. The Matadors having the permit to ply are running at their will thereby leading to the suffering of passengers.
Some of the villages on the route are Rambagh Kulian, Wazir Chak, Khandwal, Sohanjana, Malika Chak, Nandwal and Sudechak. “We have no option but to walk on foot to cover the distance to reach our homes. The Matador operators are hardly bothered about the problems being faced by us,” said Pritam Kumar, a resident of Kulian village.
When contacted, Regional Transport Officer (RTO), Jammu, Ashwani Khajuria said there were some routes on the outskirts of the city where there were not many private Matadors available for passengers.
“Yes, there is a problem being faced by the people living in towns on the outskirts of Jammu due to lack of adequate Matador services. In fact, a few days back a delegation, comprising residents of some of the towns adjoining Nagrota, visited the office and apprised us of their hardships,” the RTO, Jammu, claimed.
When asked why more permits are being not issued by the RTO to Matadors to ply on routes where there is an urgent need for the benefit of residents, Khajuria said, “We are now trying our best to provide adequate transport service to the areas located on the outskirts of the city.”