Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Feb 2: On Monday February 1, passengers who reached the outskirts of the city by about 500 private buses from different destinations had a harrowing experience. Transport officials and traffic police stopped buses coming into the city about 25 to 35 kms ahead of the city centre and made passengers to get down from the buses, without making suitable arrangements for their onward journey.

As over 500 private buses filled vacant spots outside the city, passengers including aged people, children, and patients who were in a hurry to reach their destinations in time, had to hire taxis or auto rickshaws by spending from their pockets, as the buses were reluctant to reimburse proportionate fair. Availability of city buses was woefully short.

The transport officials also took into possession some buses which were found to be violating permit regulations. Buses coming in by different routes were stopped at Attibele, Nice Road, international exhibition centre, Bagalur Cross, and K R Pura commercial tax office. As no toilets were provided at these spots, people including women were forced to attend to nature's call in the open, which came as a mockery of the government's ambitious plan to totally do away with open defecation. Government buses however operated normally from Majestic area.

In the meanwhile, a tourist agent, P K Naveen, had filed public interest litigation (PIL) in the state high court questioning the ban placed on entry of private buses into the city between February 1 and 5 in view of 'Invest Karnataka' being hosted here. When the litigation came up before the division bench comprising acting chief justice, S K Mukherjee and Justice Ravi Malimath on Monday, the bench expressed the opinion that the petition does not fall under the gamut of PIL as the applicant is a tourist agent. The bench therefore advised the petitioner to challenge the government order before single judge bench, and accordingly disposed off the PIL.