Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Mar 26: After the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) Mazdoor Union brought pressure on the government and held protests against the contract carriage buses moving about in the district, the transport department has tightened its stand. It has been conducting raids, fonfiscated the contract carriage buses and levying hefty fines. Accordingly, the contract carriage buses, which were giving the convenience of timely travel for lesser fare to the people, have remained off the roads since the last three days.

The contract carriage buses used to ply on State Bank – Puttur, Vittal, Subrahmanya, Sullia and Uppinangady routes since the last about five years. The KSRTC has been obejecting to their operation, claiming that these buses can ply only between the starting point to the destination point, and cannot be run as stage carriages with passenger pick up and drop facility in between. Another grouse of the KSRTC is that these buses charge less than the KSRTC buses and therefore, create a hole in the revenue of the government buses.

In the past, the transport minister, R Ashok, had said that the contract carriage buses will face action only if they violate rules stipulated. A delegation of the office bearers of these buses had met the minister and held discussions with him on the issue.

The KSRTC has said that at present, 111 trips are being provided between Puttur and State Bank and that the Corporation is prepared to increase the frequency of the buses. The people however, say that the contract carriage buses were running on time, they provided good services and charged less. In general, they feel that the presence of private buses in this sector poses competition for the government buses and increases the alertness and efficiency of the KSRTC buses. They want these buses to run again.