Following remarks by Varachha BJP MLA Kishor Kanani that the vehicles are the main cause of traffic jams in the city, private luxury bus operators who had previously decided to stay outside Surat’s city limits have agreed to enter the city only between the hours of 10 pm and 7 am starting on Thursday.
President of the Surat Luxury Bus Charitable Association Dinesh Andhan announced that the police commissioner had sent out a notification regarding the matter.
Kanani had made representations to Deputy Commissioner of Police Surat Traffic A K Vanani seeking to issue a notification asking private luxury buses to enter the city limits between 10 pm and 7 am. He also wrote a letter to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel requesting him to make arrangements to run state transport buses to carry passengers from Surat city to Saurashtra and North Gujarat areas.
The letter was widely shared on social media, after which Andhan called a meeting of 150 private luxury bus operators in which it was decided to not ply the vehicles in city limits from February 21 night. It was decided to pick up and drop passengers at Valak Patia near Kamrej, around 18 kilometres from Surat city.
Following the decision, passengers faced great difficulty in finding transport to reach their destinations in the city.
On Wednesday, Andhan again called a meeting with private bus operators alongwith Surat police traffic department officials and came to a decision that from February 23, the buses would enter in the city limits between 10 pm and 7 am.
In a video he posted on social media, Andhan said, “We are sorry for Surat citizens who faced great problems in reaching their destinations from Valak Patia, near Kamrej, over the past two days… from February 23, all private luxury buses will enter the city limits after 10 pm and before 7 am.”