Demands to operate buses between Dharmasthala and Kateel via Polali and direct bus connectivity between Gurupura-Kaikamba and Surathkal, and Mangaluru and Polali were raised at the meeting of Dakshina Kannada Regional Transport Authority (RTA) here on Wednesday.
A civil society member demanded that people in Polali have been deprived of direct bus connectivity to Dharmasthala. Introducing the service between the two temple towns would be of help to tourists as well as local people. A direct bus service between Mangaluru and Polali is also needed.
Some participants said that the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses plying between Mangaluru and Mudipu did not operate via Konaje Gram Panchayat. They should be made to ply via the panchayat office by plying inside Mangalore University campus.
Night buses
Some residents of Surathkal said that private buses operating to Madhya from Surathkal cut short their trips in the evening after 7 p.m. As a result, people from Madhya find it difficult to reach Surathkal and Mangaluru to take night buses. The bus operators should be made to operate buses late in the evening.
G. Hanumantha Kamath, president, Nagarika Hitarakshana Samithi, alleged that 44 contract carriage buses were operating to different destinations from State Bank of India bus terminus against permit conditions. They were not supposed to ply beyond Mallikatta and Ambedkar Circle to reach SBI bus terminus, he said.
Private operators
Referring to private bus operators objecting to permitting KSRTC buses to operate from SBI bus terminus and suggesting that KSRTC operate from satellite stations, Mr. Kamath said that the same applied to private operators too. Why should only KSRTC operate from satellite stations, he questioned.
G.K. Bhat, a participant, said that the temporary bus stand could be built at Pumpwell now on about seven acres of land available with Mangaluru City Corporation and express buses could be made to operate from there. He questioned the need to wait till the modern bus stand was built at Pumpwell.
‘Bus bays needed’
Private bus operators demanded bus bays in the city. The absence of bus bays has forced drivers to stop buses on roads, they said.
Deputy Commissioner K.G. Jagadeesha asked people to submit their petitions to the Secretary of the authority henceforth in the office of the Regional Transport Office (RTO) and obtain an acknowledgement for the same. Only such petitions would be taken up at the next meetings of the RTA, he said.
