A Journey of Sufferings and Inconveniences

Nadeem shares what it means to take a bus in the valley

(Mr. Nadeem Jahangir Bhat, 27, was born in Rakhi-Lajurah village in Pulwama district. He received his early education in a local private school and graduated from the Government Degree College in Pulwama. He completed his post graduate degree in the English Language and Literature from the University of Kashmir. Mr. Bhat is currently Research Scholar in the Department of English, University of Kashmir, pursuing his M.Phil degree on writings of Salman Rushdie and Post-Colonial Historiography. He also works at the Government Degree College in Pulwama as a Teaching Assistant. In his leisure time, he enjoys reading and writing poetry. He also occasionally writes for the Rising Kashmir newspaper.)

Public Transport System

Buses are the most popular mode of public transport. All sorts of people, men, women, old as well as children use this popular mode of transport. The entire time one can see people waiting for buses and getting up hurriedly. However, there is no joy involved in this journey. In fact, in this part of the world, to travel in a bus is to have the bitterest experiences on earth. The buses are mostly overloaded to the extent that people can hard afford to stand upright which makes the rides more troublesome and uncomfortable. Thus, the journey in a bus becomes a journey of sufferings and inconveniences.

The agony and the inconvenience of a bus journey is a multifarious one. It does not include only a physical suffering, but also psychological, moral and sometimes economical. It is an established fact that the drivers and conductors of buses, especially private ones, indulge regularly in overloading to earn maximum profit on a trip. In the wake of this monitory benefit, the bus operators rotate the timings of buses in such a way that commuters are forced to ride buses even when they are already overloaded. They cannot simply let go the chance off their hands fearing a long time wait for the next bus to come, overloaded the same way. Therefore, commuters irrespective of age, gender and status stuff the bus in unnatural and awkward manner. Inside the bus, apart from a few uncomfortable seats, all have to keep standing and watch helplessly as the conductor goes on packing each new passenger, stuffing the bus to his satisfaction. In spite of all the difficulties, nobody dares to question the driver or conductor fearing their rugged and uncouth behavior. It is a situation where the whole bus of passengers is virtually made hostage by the driver and his assistant. All have to be at the begging mercy of the two. The journey starts reluctantly and proceeds with frequent stops.

Eventually, the journey of a certain time is covered in more than double time with ‘passenger cum hostages’ complaining of strain and back pain at the end of it. All this inconvenience and misery is accompanied by a constant threat to life that gnaws the passengers internally. Due to overloading, the drivers often lose control over their vehicles, increasing chances of accidents and mishaps. In addition to the physical and psychological inconveniences, the passengers have to face much more. Mostly, these stuffed buses are the chosen spots of the pickpockets to thrive. Another issue of concern associated with over loading is a moral one.

Quite often, these overloaded buses become hot spots of eve teasing and other immoral acts. Every now and then, there are rows in busses with passengers accusing one another of jolting and trampling. In this way, journey in a bus become an awesome proposition full of inconvenience, risk and above all disgrace. To this problem of overloading, there are some reasons which all of us know. All types of vehicles have different carrying capacities.

Vehicles ranging from motorcycles and scooters up to trucks and buses are quite often found flouting the norms. The violation of carrying capacity makes such vehicles vulnerable to accidents and very often causes accidents. Buses have a prescribed sitting and standing capacity, but bus operators do not stick to the norms and put the lives of passengers at risk. Again, we have seen dangerously overloaded buses plying on bad roads with police and traffic officials watching like mute spectators. Sometimes, they stop the buses for checking but then something transpires between them and after a bribe of perhaps 50 or 100 rupees, the driver is given a license to play with the lives of passengers.

With each passing day, the scenario is becoming messy. The transport authorities need to take concrete steps to prevent such practice.

Unless and until, a proper seat allotment in buses is not made the common person will have to suffer endlessly. The maximum capacity of the busses must be displayed openly to keep conductors from taking more than the specified number of passengers. At the same time, reserved seats for women and elderly people must be specified. There should be proper checking in order to ensure the implementation of the order. A passenger assistance service should be set up so that when need arises, they can seek help from the authorities.