Haroli, May 27 - Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri today officially inaugurated the newly constructed interstate bus station in Haroli. This state-of-the-art two-storey building has been constructed at a cost of just Rs 3.40 crore. The initial estimated cost of this project was about Rs 7 crore, but due to efficient planning, effective monitoring and administrative dedication, the construction work was completed at almost half the cost. This has resulted in a significant saving of about Rs 3.60 crore to the government.
Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, while addressing the public meeting, said that Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) is working to transport about 4 lakh passengers to their destination every day. He described the 50-year journey of HRTC as the best public transport service in the state.
The Deputy Chief Minister informed that this year 300 electric buses are being added to the fleet of the corporation. 250 diesel buses are also being purchased. Apart from this, 100 tempo travellers will also be added and thus a total of 650 new buses will be added to the HRTC fleet this year.
To further strengthen the transport infrastructure, the construction of a traffic park is underway at a cost of Rs 13 crore. The Deputy Chief Minister said that the Transport Department has received an amount of Rs 25 crore last year and Rs 29 crore this year from the Central Government, which has been received due to the commendable work done for the modernization of the department.
He said that two new bus services will be started from Haroli Bus Station. One bus will run from Haroli to Haridwar and the other from Haroli to Shimla which will go via Baddi and Nalagarh. This decision will further strengthen regional connectivity.
Giving information about the Bulk Drug Park, the Deputy Chief Minister said that tenders worth Rs 1000 crore have been done so far in this project being built at a cost of Rs 2500 crore. About 10 thousand youth are likely to get employment from this.
At the end of the program, HRTC Vice President Ajay Verma and BOD member and senior Congress leader Ranjit Rana thanked Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri and highlighted the achievements of HRTC.
During this time, HRTC Vice President Ajay Verma, Joint Director Industries Anshul Dhiman, Chief Engineer PWD Vijay Chaudhary, SDM Vishal Sharma, senior Congress leaders Ranjit Rana, Ashok Thakur, Satish Bittu, Vinod Kumar Bittu, Pramod Kumar, Subhadra Chaudhary, Una District Youth Congress President Prashant Rai, Haroli Block Youth Congress President Shubham, Gondpur Bulla Panchayat Pradhan Dalbir Singh, Bathu Panchayat Pradhan Surekha Rana, Haroli Gram Panchayat Pradhan Ramna Kumari, Chhetra Gram Panchayat Pradhan Vikas Rana, other public representatives and officers, employees of various departments and a large number of local people were present.