Ghaziabad: The transport department will deploy 350 buses on the Ghaziabad-Haridwar route from July 30 to Aug 11 to meet the surge in passenger demand during Kanwar Yatra. Temporary bus depots will be set up at Lal Kuan and Dasna to streamline operations and improve coordination during the pilgrimage.Lakhs of pilgrims travel to Haridwar to collect Ganga water during Shravan (monsoon) and offer it to Lord Shiva in temples across UP and neighbouring states.Regional transport officer Kesari Nandan Chaudhary said the buses would be arranged by reallocating the existing fleet operating in the district, rather than bringing in vehicles from elsewhere. “Traffic on normal city routes reduces during Kanwar yatra, allowing us to divert these buses. They will operate from one depot to another like regular services and will also travel to Haridwar,” he said.Chaudhary added that the department is awaiting the final traffic diversion plan from the district administration before announcing the complete schedule and routes. “The normal fare is Rs 1.4 per kilometre. We are waiting for the route diversion plan from the administration, which is expected in the next couple of days. Once we receive the approved route list, the buses will operate only on those routes. If required, we can deploy more buses later,” he said.The primary depots and terminals expected to support the special operations include Kaushambi bus depot near the Delhi-UP border, Shaheed Sthal (New Bus Adda) on GT Road, Old Bus Stand on Ambedkar Road in Naya Ganj, Sahibabad depot in Site-4 industrial area, ALT depot in Sector 23, Sanjay Nagar and Loni terminal.
