Mangalore: Volvo Buses Between City and Airport from July 15
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)
Mangalore, Jul 12: Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) will begin running Volvo buses from its bus stand to the airport in Bajpe via Kadri, with effect from July 15. This was stated by Dakshina Kannada district deputy commissioner, N S Channappa Gowda, at the quarterly progress review meeting held under Karnataka Development Programme here on Monday July 11. He also said that the service will be further extended after monitoring initial response, depending on demand. The meeting was held in the auditorium of the zilla panchayat.
The meeting was presided over by minister, Krishna J Palemar. The minister had sought compliance report on the decisions made at the previous meeting for running KSRTC buses to rural places where there is demand, and about appointment of drivers. Responding to the query, representative of KSRTC stated that steps have been taken to recruit adequate drivers, and that bus services will be introduced wherever there is demand for them.
Noting that this is just the repetition of promises being made at every meeting since the last three meetings, MP, Nalin Kumar Kateel, and deputy speaker of the state assembly, N Yoigish Bhat, urged the KSRTC officials to swing into action and run buses on the basis of need for the benefit of people. To this, regional transport officer, Mallikarjun, said that this issue will be discussed at the meeting of the regional transport office being held on July 18 for discussing public grievances.
Airport director, M R Vasudeva, sought proper infrastructure towards making transformation of the airport into an international airport happen at the earliest. Assistant commissioner of Mangalore subdivision, Prabhulinga Kavalikatti, clarified that survey is going on for the runway extension, and that the state government has already earmarked a sum of Rs 16 crore out of a total amount of Rs 52 crore needed for land acquisition towards runway extension, and rehabilitation of the displaced families.
Issuance of house numbers to those who have built houses on government land also became fodder for discussion at the said meeting. Responding to the demand of MLA, Abhhay Chandra Jain, to at least issue temporary door numbers to such families, Palemar explained that the system of issuing temporary door numbers after collecting double the amount of house tax is in vogue in cities, and asked the zilla panchayat to pass a resolution in its general session to adopt the same procedure in rural areas, and forward the resolution for further action to the government.
District health officer confirmed that no H1N1 cases have so far been detected during this season in the district. He was reassuring the members, who expressed concerns about the swine flu scare in Udupi district.
Zilla panchayat president, Shylaja Bhat, vice-president, Dhanalakshmi, city corporation commissioner, Vijay Prakash, and chairpersons of various standing committees of zilla panchayat were present at the meeting.