The state-owned road transport corporation, Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation suffered an operational loss of over six crore in seven days due to operational losses, and damages due to the recent rain fury.
Besides, the operational cost loss is around Rs 3.51 crore, and the tentative losses caused to bus stands and workshops due to rains are estimated to be around Rs 2.05 crore.
These include Divisional workshop Tara Devi Rs 80.00 lakhs, Workshop Karsog Rs 20.00 lakh, workshop Nagrota Bagwan Rs 05.00 lakh, workshop Kullu Rs 30 lakh, Bus stand Kotkhai Rs 20.00 Lakh, Volvo Ground Manali Rs 50.00 lakh.
The damages were incurred between 7 July and 14 July, when the state was battered with heavy rains that triggered floods and landslides.
HRTC has a fleet of 3413 vehicles that include 3221 buses, 110 electric buses, 50 electric taxis, 18 Innova Crysta Taxis, 14 Tempo Travellers.
Except for two vehicles of the Sunder Nagar Unit in Mandi district and another vehicle of Chamba unit, there was no major loss or damage to the fleet of buses.
However, 260 buses out of the 3221 buses got stuck during the period.
HRTC operates buses on around 3500 routes across the state.
HRTC, Managing Director, Rohan Chand Thakur said, “We have suffered an operational loss of almost Rs 50 lakh a day, for the seven days as the many bus routes got suspended.”
Taking into account the operational losses and damages suffered to infrastructure including workshops the total losses is around Rs Six crore in the seven days, which can go beyond as we are collecting data every day, he said.
“We will be sending the report of the losses to the state government soon,” said Thakur.
Despite the losses, there is a silver lining. HRTC continues to play a significant role, as it is the only public transport system operational during the time state is affected by any such catastrophe to sustain a semblance of normality, transporting the local people and the tourist to their respective destinations.
This time it also played part in the toughest rescue operations ‘Mission Chandratal’ that the state ever witnessed till date, to rescue around 300 tourists stranded in Chandratal in Lahaul and Spiti districts.
The tourists had been stranded there since July 8, due to heavy snow and were rescued on July 13.
As air force choppers could not land at Chandertal due to inclement weather, three buses of HRTC were deployed to evacuate the stranded tourist from the mighty Kunzum Pass (4551 mts) in the eastern Kunzum Range of the Himalayas.
The bus drivers of the three HRTC buses along with conductors took the arduous journey from Kaza to Kunzum pass at a distance of around 75 kms on the night of July 12.
Praveen Kumar one of the HRTC drivers said, “After orders from the office, I left Kaza at 1.15 am on the intervening night of July 12 and July 13 for Kunzum pass. We hit a stumbling block at 3.30 am due to a roadblock at a nalaha in Kholaksa village 2 kms from Losar of Spiti subdivision in Lahaul and Spiti. It was after it was cleared we proceeded further.”
Braving the sub-zero temperatures and nail-biting chill and snow, Praveen Kumar and the conductor of the bus reached to Kunzum Pass in the daytime and returned along with one of the batches of tourists safely to Kaza by 9.00 pm the same day.