Owners of only nine of the total of around 120 private buses that operate from Goshree islands to High Court Junction have submitted applications before the Motor Vehicles department (MVD), seeking entry into city routes.
This has been attributed to the notification issued by the Transport department in November putting a 25-km cap on their route distance. Buses that operated beyond Njarakkal do not thus qualify to enter the city. Sources in the MVD said that a total of 29 buses from the Goshree islands, have sought permission to operate in the city. “They include 20 KSRTC buses and nine private buses. Among the private buses, seven are fresh applications, while two are applications seeking route variation to extend their trips to the city. The Regional Transport Authority [RTA] meeting slated for March 13 will take a call on these applications.”
The buses could, for the time being, bring some respite to the travel needs of commuters from the isles to reach different parts of the city, provided they operate as per the time slots allotted to each bus, they added.
Of the nine private buses that have sought city entry, six have sought to extend their services to Kakkanad and one to Vyttila Mobility Hub, it is learnt.
Anil Plavians, general secretary of the Federation of Residents’ Associations’ Apex Council in Goshree Islands (FRAG), an NGO that has been spearheading the agitation demanding city entry of buses from the isles, attributed the limited number of applicants from private bus operators - 65 buses from North Paravur and 25 from Munambam - to their inability to operate beyond High Court Junction due to the 25-km cap specified in the notification.
Former Deputy Transport Commissioner K. Achuthan had stated that the RTA was empowered to grant ‘permit variation’ to buses from the Goshree isles to operate to among other places, Vyttila and Kakkanad. Else, 98 of the 120 private buses would be unable to operate in city routes.
