After MLA raises traffic issue, luxury buses to not enter Surat city limits

In his letter to the CM, Kanani also said, “Lakhs of people from Saurashtra, North Gujarat and Kutch who come to Surat for work rely on private luxury buses. The luxury buses operators charge a hefty amount from the passengers.

From Monday midnight, the luxury buses coming from Saurashtra, North Gujarat, Ahmedabad dropped passengers at Valak Patia, around 18 kilometers away from Surat city. (Express Photo)

4 min readSuratFeb 22, 2023 12:01 AM IST First published on: Feb 21, 2023 at 11:55 PM IST

The organisation of private luxury buses have decided that their buses will not enter Surat city limits as a protest against BJP MLA Of Varachha Kishor Kanani who had alleged that luxury buses were causing traffic jams in the city.

From Monday midnight, the luxury buses coming from Saurashtra, North Gujarat, Ahmedabad dropped passengers at Valak Patia, around 18 kilometers away from Surat city.

On Tuesday afternoon, Kanani wrote a letter to Chief minister Bhupendra Patel requesting him to make an arrangement to run State Transport buses to carry passengers from Surat city to Saurashtra and North Gujarat areas.

A day ago, 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 into the city limits between 10.00 pm and 7.00 am.

In his letter to the CM, Kanani also said, “Lakhs of people from Saurashtra, North Gujarat and Kutch who come to Surat for work rely on private luxury buses. The luxury buses operators charge a hefty amount from the passengers.

A survey should be done on the routes on which private buses run and government should start buses on these routes.”

“We have come across complaints from the public about traffic problems in certain areas during the peak hours in morning and evening. During the peak hours, large number of heavy loaded vehicles and luxury buses are seen on the roads. So, I wrote a letter to the Deputy commissioner of Police, Traffic asking to to implement Surat police commissioner’s notification’s notification banning entry of heavy vehicles in Surat city between 8.00 am and 1 pm, and between 4.00 pm and 8.00 pm. Apart from this, the luxury private buses should enter the city limits after 10.00 pm and before 7.00 am,” the BJP MLA told The Indian Express.

He further alleged Surat Luxury Bus Charitable Association president Dinesh Andhan circulated the MLA’s phone number on social media asking people to complain to me about the decision. “He wanted to incite public and is trying to defame me,” the MLA added.

However, Andhan said the issue was raised by the BJP MLA for “cheap publicity”. “All blame of traffic jams was put on private luxury buses. Heavy loaded vehicles also ply on the city roads and no allegations were raised against them. We provide facilities like pickup and drop to the passengers from nearby locations, to help them save auto rickshaw fares. We have decided that till the government comes up with a proper solution, we will continue to pick up and drop passengers from Valak Patia and it start from Tuesday early morning, onwards and continue for the coming days.”

There are over 150 private luxury bus operators in the city, who run over 400 buses and over 80 percent of buses runs from Surat to different villages and talukas in Saurashtra, North Gujarat and other parts of state, he added.
On Tuesday, over 400 buses were parked on the roadside by drivers and did not enter the city.

Joint police commissioner of Traffic department Surat said, “We reached Valak Patia in the morning and cleared the traffic. The BRTS bus service was started in the morning to carry passengers from Valak Patia to different destinations. The implementation of police commissioner’s notification on entry of luxury buses during prescribed time will be strictly followed.”