Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Jan 31: Without any prior information, fares of the buses plying in the Udupi and Dakshina Kannada district headquarters under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) have been hiked with effect from Friday, January 28. The hike has come at a time when the people are reeling under financial insecurities following the Corona third wave.

The fare hikes from Rs 2 to Rs 5. The minimum fare has gone up to Rs 10 rupees from the earlier Rs 8. Now, the minimum bus fare in private as well as government city buses have been hiked similarly.

JNNURM buses had been introduced in Mangaluru and Udupi in the year 2016. Thereafter, though the KSRTC had hiked the bus fares twice the JNNURM had maintained status quo. Now, the hike was effected as per the instructions from the department and there is no other go but to increase the fare, KSRTC officials said.

As many as 30 JNNURM buses are being run in Mangaluru city and 20 in Udupi. These buses are mostly frequented by the economically poor sections including labourers. However now, the people who are mired in problems because of the Covid pandemic, are forced to spend more on bus fare.

Before the Covid impact, 36 JNNURM buses were operated in Udupi. Later, citing shortage of passengers and losses, the bus services were withdrawn in phases. Even after the movement of people returned and the demand for service on neglected routes is high, these buses rarely ply these routes. On some mofussil and city routes, these buses have never been seen after 2020. Therefore the people travel dangling in overcrowded private buses.

Udupi has 20 JNNURM buses as against 70 private buses, for a population of 1.3 lac. In contrast. for the 5 lac population in Mangaluru, there are only 30 JNNURM buses as against 430 private buses. Because of the JNNURM buses, both the government and private buses had faced shortage of collection earlier. After Covid, many people have switched over to two wheelers and cars.

The private bus owners lament that after investing Rs 30 lac on buses, they are finding it hard to save even Rs 10,000 per month. Udupi City Bus Owners Association president Kuilady Suresh Nayak, says that with the rate of diesel touching Rs 84.6 a litre, it is not possible to maintain the fare low. He wants people who protest against high prices to think practically.

Kaviraj, secretary of CITU, Udupi taluk unit, says that JNNURM buses have hiked fare at the instance of private bus owners. J P Gangadhar, Udupi regional transport officer recalled that JNNURM bus fares had not been hiked even when private and government bus fares had gone up.