Frequent breakdowns of Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses on the Wayanad-Kozhikode roads cause much hardships to travellers and employees alike.
While overage buses have been shown as the reason for the frequent breakdowns by sources from the local KSRTC depot, passengers and some bus employees allege poor maintenance to be the reason.
No new buses
Besides causing difficulties to passengers, who would be forced to seek other modes of transport midway through their journey in case of a breakdown, such incidents also cause traffic bocks on the busy National Highway to Wayanad.
According to K.M. Akhilesh, station master of the Pavangadu depot of the corporation, most of the buses operating services on the route are overage. “No new bus has been introduced in the region in the last few years, probably because of the cash-crunch faced by the government,” Mr. Akhilesh said.
Last week, a bus that broke down at Moozhikkal, near Vellimadukunnu, on its way to Kozhikode from Wayand at night had caused a partial traffic block on the NH for more than an hour. The vehicle could not be moved to the wayside owing to a “break-jam” suffered by the bus. In some cases, the breakdown is caused by mechanical troubles while it is “tyre-problem” on other occasions.
While the depot sources say they carry out timely maintenance, some bus employees complain of poor upkeep of the vehicles. “Even passengers complain to us on several occasions about the poor quality of the journey and the lack of comfort,” said a driver of a bus plying on the Kozhikode-Thamarasssery route, seeking anonymity.
Usually, the corporation introduces new buses every year at the beginning of the Sabarimala pilgrimage season. There would be around 1,000 new buses hitting the road, but not anymore. “The situation will improve only when we get new buses,” Mr. Akhilesh said.
