Chennai: The commissionerate of transport and road safety has stopped issuing new permits for private buses and is mulling more ways to reduce congestion due to the huge number of private long-distance services operating from the city.As about 1,800 private buses operate from Koyambedu — 1,200 towards southern districts and 600 to neighbouring states — the 100 Feet Road, GST Road and Poonamallee High Road witness heavy traffic during peak hours. These buses are parked on the roadside to allow boarding of passengers.Following complaints, the transport commissionerate has stopped issuing permits for new buses as it would further congest city roads. However, the bus owners rued that more than 550 buses procured recently could not be operated during this festive season due to the restriction.“Permits were already issued for 270 out of the 500 buses, but final approval to operate them is still pending, despite registering the vehicles and paying road and other taxes. This will financially strain the bus owners, and they will be forced to register the vehicles in other states. This will result in a huge loss to the exchequer,” said A Anabalagan of All Omni Bus Owners Association.However, a senior official in the transport commissionerate said the permit exercise will resume soon. “We are holding meetings with all stakeholders to reduce congestion on city roads. We spoke to omni bus owners too. A legal opinion has also been sought for a suitable remedy. The permit process will resume after a decision is taken in this regard,” said the official.
