On the lines of cities like Kuala Lumpur and London, Chandigarh will boast its tradition and culture through depictions on its public transport system. To begin with, the new 17 mini AC buses, waiting to hit the roads at present, are all decked up with hand-painted motifs of tourist destinations including Le Corbusier Centre, Rock Garden, City Museum, Sukhna Lake and the likes.

Initially, 10 of the 17 buses have been readied for the job with a 4.25 feet painting on red colour base. “The Administration wanted something different for these buses, a message for the residents and people from across the cities visiting Chandigarh. Finally, the decision of the paintings depicting cultural and tourism heritage of Chandigarh was chalked out,” said Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) Director M L Sharma.

The Administration is in the process of expanding the public transport system by adding 100 new AC and non-AC buses apart from the mini buses.

The initiative, expected to generate a good response from the public, will be implemented to all new buses to be added in the fleet in the coming months.

On when these buses would be flagged off, the CTU director said: “The notification and clearance of these buses is awaited, which would not take more than a week. The buses would start plying then, making the ride around the city an enjoyable journey.”