The state government is looking to expanding the Meghalaya Integrated Transport Project (MITP) to fill the gap in the public transport system in the state, with particular emphasis on the state capital.
Sangma held a meeting with the MITP team yesterday to discuss new proposals in the mobility sector, funded by the World Bank, he wrote on social media.
“Positive steps are being taken to solve the congestion issue in Shillong,” he said.
The plan entails the procurement of 20 school buses immediately, 21 electric buses for urban transport and the phased introduction of 12 electric buses for tourism. A subsidy scheme for 200 agricultural commercial vehicles and 50 high-end tourism passenger vehicles will also be launched soon, he stated.
Expanding on the subject today, Sangma said that the rollout of electric buses for the general public will be taken up first.
In the second phase, the government will introduce regular buses for school children transport.
“This will not necessarily be run by the schools but the concerned department will work out a formula in which we will have some kind of organisation or society or people who run it,” the CM said. “We will work the system out but the idea is to introduce school buses to decongest the roads.”
In the third phase, a 50 percent subsidy will be provided to entrepreneurs for the purchase of Toyota Innovas for high-end tourist taxi services.
“Fifty percent will be subsidised by us and we will give it to the youth and tourist operators who want to apply for this. We feel that there is a bit of a gap in that we are looking to draw in high-end tourists but we don’t have those kinds of vehicles because our entrepreneurs and our taxi drivers cannot afford them,” he said.
In addition, in line with the 1917 iTEAMS agricultural service, the government will buy and distribute 200 pickup trucks for entrepreneurs, farmer organisations and societies. Fifty percent of the cost of these vehicles will also be subsidised.
“Transport is a major hurdle when it comes to transportation of agricultural products to market areas,” the CM elaborated.
