Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)
Mangaluru, Apr 4: In view of frequent frictions occurring between private buses and people manning the tollgate near NITK Suratkal, Dakshina Kannada district deputy commissioner, A B Ibrahim, has set certain guidelines to the concerned to address the matter.
At a meeting of contractors of the tollgate and bus owners held at his office on Sunday, he advised the contractors to replace the present local people with employees drawn from other places at the tollgate. He also directed the concerned to file complete details including the past of the staff within 30 days with the police department. "The staff should wear uniforms. CCTV cameras network at the tollgate should be extended as advised by police. No private persons except police should be deployed on security duty there, he said, to which main contractor, Uday Singh, gave his nod.
The bus owners requested to charge Rs 3,500 per bus for private buses moving within a radius of 20 km from the city per month, after which the DC advised the national highways department officials, regional transport office, Canara Bus Operators Association and tollgate contractors to mutually hold discussions and reach an agreement on toll charges. Uday Singh said that government buses are obtaining three passes of Rs 5,200 each per month, and that private buses are allowed to ply buses by buying a single pass. He argued that private buses are already enjoying a discount of 70 percent.
Belapu Deviprasad Shetty and Mithun Rai said that private individuals have been hired at the gate for security, and people without uniforms collect money, and the staff at the tollgate behave rudely with bus staff.
Additional deputy commissioner, Kumar, city police commissioner, M Chandra Sekhar, and in-charge transport officer, G S Hegde, were present at the meeting.