Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (JS)

Mangaluru, Aug 23: Dakshina Kannada district deputy commissioner, A B Ibrahim, in his capacity as the chairman of Regional Transport Authority (RTA), has given his nod to operate 18 out of 35 buses sanctioned under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) from State Bank circle as per the district magistrate notification and directed Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) officials to operate remaining 17 buses outside the city and directed them to submit a detailed proposal on proposed routes before Saturday.

He chaired the RTA meeting held at DC office here on Saturday. Advocate Rajesh Shetty, who represented the KSRTC, said that they had received around 2,304 applications from the public to start bus services from State Bank and sought for permission to operate all 35 buses from State Bank circle based on public demand. According to the Supreme Court, there is no need to seek opinions of private bus operators before giving permission to the KSRTC buses sanctioned under JnNURM, he said.

There is no direct bus connectivity to Katipalla, Pilikula, Vamanjoor, Mudipu, Pachanadi and many other places. Around 579 bus passes have been distributed on Mudipu route. Moreover, the JnNURM project can provide various facilities to the general public, he noted. Meanwhile, private bus operators claimed that there are 120 buses which make 900 trips to Mudipu everyday. They felt that there are enough buses to serve this route and stressed that introduction of new buses on this route will not serve any purpose. KSRTC, they said, had failed to reach to all the corners of the city.

Transport Adalat soon

The DC said: “Introducing 35 new buses to the city transport system will not affect the operation of 329 private buses presently in operation in the city. We can not reject the government schemes. The scheme has been already implemented in Udupi, Mysuru, Kasargod etc. The KSRTC buses should also follow the specified norms like low floor automatic doors, LED display and voice announcing etc”. At the same time, the DC ordered the transport department officials to conduct a transport Adalat to address the grievances of the general public relating to the transportation facility.

18 routes

The deputy commissioner has given his approval to ply KSRTC buses in 18 routes from State Bank. The routes are as follows: State Bank to Gurupura- Kaikamba via Mallikatte, to Moodushedde via Mallikatte, to Pilikula via Mallikatte, to Katipalla via Honnakatte, to Mangalapet via Kana, to Katipalla-Kaikamba via Janata Colony, to Shaktinagar via Nantoor, to Kunjathabail via Carstreet- Kuloor, to Kunjathabail via Kavoor, from Talapadi to Bondel via State Bank, from State Bank to Vamanjoor via Pacchanadi, to Mudipu via Deralakatte, to Someshwar via Ullal, to Bajal via Padil, to Faizal Nagar/Jalligudde via Padil, to Ganeshpura via Rathabeedi- Krishnapura and to Kinya via K C Road.

Superintendent of police Dr S D Sharanappa, Puttur Regional Transport Officer (RTO) Surendrappa (Mangaluru in-charge) were present among others.