The State Transport Department plans to operate nearly 24,000 buses for Pongal, to be celebrated on January 15.
After chairing a meeting of transport officials on Thursday, Transport Minister M.R. Vijayabhaskar said more than 14,000 buses would be operated from the city to various destinations in the State for three days before and after the festival. Long-distance buses will be operated from six places — Koyambedu, Madhavaram, K.K. Nagar, Tambaram Sanatorium, Tambaram and Poonnamallee. Special ticket counters will start functioning at Koyambedu from January 9.
Mr. Vijayabhaskar said last year for Pongal the target was six lakh passengers, but due to transport union strike, they we were able to carry only five lakh passengers. “This year, we expect to reach the target of carrying nearly six lakh passengers to various parts of the State,” he said.
The government plans to operate 10 electric buses on a trial basis, for which talks were held with the C40 organisation. In the next four years, nearly 2,000 new buses, comprising electric and BS VI buses, would be plying on the State’s roads to bring down pollution, he said.
