Udupi: KSRTC Volvo Buse Services to Kasargod Flagged Off
Pics: Hemanath Padubidri
Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (SP)
Udupi, Apr 10: The maiden Karntaka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) Volvo bus services between Manipal and Kasargod were flagged off by the state transport minister, R Ashok, on the morning of Saturday April 10 at Manipal bus stand.
Speaking on the occasion, Ashok said that short distance Volvo buses are being offered to the commuters of the state’s coast for the first time. “When I had visited the coast first time after becoming the transport minister, the media men had asked me about the disinterestedness of the KSRTC to introduce buses on the roads in the coastal districts. The KSRTC had stopped plying buses on the coastal routes about 20 years ago, and there have been a plethora of court cases on this issue. I took the suggestion given by the press men as a challenge. Now, we have introduced the buses backed by the world’s most modern technology, in the coast. We are not here to confront or engage in friction with private bus operators. We want to maintain cordial relationship with them and engage in a healthy competition. At the same time, for the benefit of the common people, we also propose to start ordinary bus services on these routes,” he explained.
Ashok said that the regional transport office will be built at the 2.5 acres plot allotted for the purpose at Manipal, at a cost of Rs 3.5 crore. He added that a KSRTC bus stand will also be built at a three acre plot located at Bannanje here, which is presently in the possession of the public works department. Besides a shopping complex, a training centre for drivers will be built at this bus stand, at a cost of Rs 50 lac, he narrated.
Udupi MLA, Raghupati Bhat, Kaup MLA, Lalaji R Mendon, Byndoor MLA, Laxminarayan, MLAs from Bangalore, Vishwanath, Satish Reddy and Krishnappa, MLC, Kota Srinivas Poojary, KSRTC managing director, Gaurav Gupta, principal secretary in the department of transport, Shankarlinge Gowda, were present.
State minister for fisheries and information technology, Anand Asnotikar, local municipal president, Dinakar Shetty, Udupi Urban Development Authority chairman, Sudhakar Shetty, regional transport officer, H N Ramesh, KSRTC officials, Karumbaiah, Nagaraj Shirali, Yashwant Kumar, Narayan Kamath, Jaishanth, Satyasundaram etc., were also present.
Three Volvo buses each will run simultaneously from Manipal and Kasargod initially. On Saturday, all the six buses were inaugurated at Manipal. These buses will stop at Kaup, Padubidri, Mulki, Suratkal, State Bank, Tokkottu, Manjeshwar and Uppala while plying to Kasargod from Manipal.