A prepaid autorickshaw counter will start functioning at Mangalore Junction Railway Station in April, according to the Regional Transport Officer C. Mallikarjuna.
He told presspersons in the presence of the Deputy Commissioner N.S. Channappa Gowda after the meeting of the Regional Transport Authority headed by Mr. Gowda on Saturday.
Mr. Mallikarjuna said a bank had come forward to erect a kiosk for the prepaid autorickshaw counter at Mangalore Central Station but he would request the bank to erect it at Mangalore Junction so that a prepaid counter starts functioning there at the earliest. If the kiosk is ready before April, the counter could start functioning earlier than the deadline of April, he said.
He said that the prepaid autorickshaw counter at Mangalore Central Station had ended the menace of autorickshaw drivers who fleece the public. This could repeat at Mangalore Junction when the counter started functioning there.
Mr. Gowda asked Mr. Mallikarjuna to explore the possibility of running regular buses to Kateel and Bajpe via airport terminal at Kenjar for the benefit air passengers as the Volvo service introduced by the KSRTC had been withdrawn following poor patronisation due to cost issues. He said that the possibility of starting Rajahamsa services by KSRTC too would be explored.
Earlier, the RTA decided to issue notices to a few persons holding permits to operate buses in areas such as Arkula-Kinnigoli via Abbettu and cancel the permits if they fail to start buses within a time frame. It also decided to seek the opinion of the grama panchayats where bus operators seek to stop services to certain villages giving various reasons. One of the operators had sought to curtail the service to Ira village.
The Transport Authority earlier allowed extended services to Thenka Mijar for some buses operating on the Moodbidri-Kinnigoli route. It also sanctioned to the Kottarachowki-Kuntikana-
Nanthoor-Tharethota-
Pumpwell-Kuttar-Derlakatte-Konaje-Dharmanagar route. It approved bus service on the Kinnigoli-Arkula route. It approved five-km extension of services to Gerukatte on the Guruvayanakere-Venur route.
