Bus Services Denied to Panchayats in Balh and Sundarnagar Despite Road Facilities

Despite the presence of roads, around half a dozen panchayats along the boundaries of Balh and Sundarnagar legislative assembly constituencies are deprived of bus services. The road from Sundarnagar to Gurukotha via Ghadyatar has been in existence for over 20 years, yet it still lacks bus services.

People in the region have to travel to Sundarnagar for most of their needs, but there is no bus service available to them. People either have to travel in private vehicles or walk to catch buses on alternative routes. The head of Luakhad Panchayat, local resident Bishan Dev Sharma, and Ganesh Datt mentioned that villagers worked to build this road about 20 years ago. They made the road pucca (concrete) during the previous BJP government’s time. However, even today, the government has not initiated bus services on this route.

School and college students must walk to get to their institutions daily. Those who have daily jobs must either use private vehicles or walk to their workplaces. Villagers have urged the government to provide bus services during the day on the Sundarnagar-Gurukotha route and encourage private buses to operate on this route.