Udaipur : The face of the Central Roadways Depot built 44 years ago at Udiapalle in Udaipur city will soon change. The state government will develop 10 bus stands of the state on the lines of airports. These include the bus stands of Udaipur as well as Bharatpur, Ajmer, Dudu, Beawar, Bundi, Bikaner, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Kota. Two companies have been appointed as consultants for the construction of eight bus stands in the first phase. These will be constructed on Build Operate Transfer (BOT) basis. Roadways administration will operate buses on more than half of the land and private companies will operate commercial activities on some parts. This will generate additional income to the roadways annually. The objective behind this exercise is to save the roadways from losses. With this, buses will be able to operate on new routes. Let us tell you that on September 10, 1980, the then CM Jagannath Pahadia had inaugurated the depot. Since then the depot was never repaired.
Food court, cafeteria and other facilities will be available
300 buses including 82 from Udaipur depot were operated. These run for the states including MP, Gujarat and UP etc. Renovation of the depot will change the image of the city. The airport is already developed in the city. Renovation is going on at the railway station. Tourists from other states and regions come to the bus stand. Currently, 14 thousand passengers come and go here every day. Being developed on the lines of airport, passengers will get facilities like food court, cafeteria, super market, automatic ticketing, game zone, centralized cooling, waiting lounge, modern toilets, hotel, shopping mall etc.
The depot will be developed on Gujarat model
There is a plan to develop the bus stand under the Gujarat model. Under this model, the ownership of the bus stand will remain with Roadways. In Gujarat, bus stands have been given to companies for 30 years. The fare is collected by the companies. Out of which some part is given to Roadways. Manager of Udaipur Roadways Depot Hemant Sharma says that the state government had announced the renovation of Udaipur bus stand in the budget. The process of renovation in this regard has started. Work will start here soon.
