With route permits being issued for low-floor buses under the Jawaharalal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission for Udupi, one more hurdle has been cleared for them to hit the roads.
According to the Regional Transport Office, route permits have been issued for 30 JNNURM government buses to operate on 12 routes: Manipal-Rajatadri-Malpe, Udupi to Tiger Circle, Udupi to Rajatadri, Udupi to Alevoor, Udupi to Kallianpur, Udupi to Parkala, Udupi to Kelarkalabettu, Udupi to Herga, Tiger Circle to Malpe beach, Udupi to Hoode, Udupi to Thottam, and Ananthanagar to Malpe beach.
The city bus service is being managed by the private sector here for decades. There are 89 private city buses which are doing 534 trips in Udupi and its surroundings daily.
JNNURM buses would be managed by the Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). The district administration has sent a proposal to the government urging it to hand over the 34 cents of land, which currently houses the old DDPI office and belongs to the Department of Public Instruction, to the Transport Department.
“This would help KSRTC construct a bus stand for JNNURM buses on the 34 cents of land. Then the JNURM buses need not jostle for space with private buses at the present city bus stand,” said Pramod Madhwaraj, MLA.
Once the land is transferred to the Transport Department, KSRTC could apply for a timetable for the JNNURM buses with the Regional Transport Authority. “We are pursuing the matter with all ministries concerned. It may take four to six weeks for the JNNURM buses to hit the roads here,” he said.
But the private players are apprehensive. K. Suresh Nayak, president of the Udupi City Bus Owners Association, said that if the government buses ply on all routes, private players would be thrown out of work in a year and about two hundred persons would lose their jobs.
To avoid a clash between the private and government city buses, a compromise formula is likely to be worked out.
“We will run the buses in those areas where there are no or few private buses operating. This will be beneficial to both the private players and also the public,” Mr. Madhwaraj said.
There has been a long pending demand for low-floor government buses in the city. “We want low-floor buses as it is easier for senior citizens and women to get in and out of them,” said A. Lakshmi Bai, Trustee of Udupi Consumers’ Forum.
