Hope still persists for the city entry of private buses from Goshree islands since the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) is empowered to grant variation of permit for their extension from High Court Junction to Vyttila, Kakkanad, and other destinations in Kochi city, according to K. Achuthan, former Deputy Transport Commissioner, and Motor Vehicles department (MVD) officials.
This comes in the wake of concerns raised by commuters, Federation of Residents’ Associations’ Apex Council in Goshree Islands (FRAG), and bus operators from the region that only a handful of the 120 buses that operate from North Paravur and Goshree isles will be able to enter the city in the wake of the Transport department publishing the final notification regarding the city entry of private buses from Goshree islands. They have been keenly awaiting the city entry of the buses ever since the three Goshree bridges were commissioned in 2004.
“The legal conundrum that cropped up over the years was whether extension of service could be granted for private buses from High Court Junction to Vyttila and Kakkanad without affecting the existing scheme [meant for KSRTC] that passed through the city. No such scheme stands in the way of granting permits from High Court Junction to Vyttila and Kakkanad,” said Mr. Achuthan, who wrote the book Nationalisation of Road Transport Services in Kerala.
The provisions regarding nationalisation that are purportedly aimed at excluding private buses from nationalised routes were being cited as an impediment to the city entry of private buses. However, the RTA can grant ‘permit variation’ by allowing private buses coming from Goshree isles to extend their operation from High Court Junction to Vyttila, Kakkanad, and other destinations. But the new scheme (the final notification of November), which impedes the grant of such permits, must have a ‘procedural death’ or should be cancelled, Mr. Achuthan added.
Informed sources said the permit variation for buses from the isles intending to operate to Kakkanad could be granted since overlapping of bus services through nationalised routes was permitted up to 3 km (the Kacheripady-Palarivattom stretch, in this case). “Similar logic is applicable to buses from the isles intending to operate up to Vyttila since KSRTC buses on the Alappuzha-Ernakulam nationalised route [via Thoppumpady] would not be hit by the extension of private bus services from Goshree isles to Vyttila,” they added.
Reiterating that the RTA was empowered to allow permit variation for private buses even in the absence of any new scheme, MVD sources said bus operators were free to submit applications in that regard. “The notification issued in November enables existing private buses to continue their services without any variation, provided that the overlapping distance on the notified route does not exceed 25 km. This 25-km limitation would hamper private bus operators from plying up to Kakkanad or Vytilla,” they said.
“As a result, 98 of the 120 private buses cannot aspire to extend their service beyond High Court Junction. This will leave lakhs of islanders at the mercy of KSRTC buses that are notorious for inefficient operations,” they added.
FRAG general secretary Anil Plavians said the notification had complicated the issue of city entry of buses from the isles. “We hope the notification will be cancelled so that islanders get justice, and they do not need to alight at High Court Junction and run helter-skelter to board other buses to reach their destinations. The KSRTC cannot be trusted since it unilaterally withdrew 32 Thirukochi buses that it operated from the isles to the city over a decade ago and also another lot of 17 buses that it subsequently deployed in the corridor,” he added.
