Incessant rain lashing coastal Karnataka and Kerala has badly hit bus services. The Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) on Wednesday cancelled more than 50 premier services from Bengaluru to coastal cities.
Premier bus services were stopped on Wednesday from Bengaluru to places such as Mangaluru, Udupi, Kundapur, and Kozhikode, Kannur, and Kasaragod in Kerala. Private bus operators too have stopped their services on these routes. The KSRTC is operating express bus services via Charmadi Ghat. South Western Railway has either partially cancelled services or diverted trains headed to these destinations.
An official of the KSRTC said, “On an average, close to 3,000 people travel on these routes every day and a majority of them book tickets online. Shiradi Ghat road has been closed till August 25 for heavy vehicles following landslips. This means we cannot operate multi-axle buses on this route. The condition of Sampaje Ghat road is not promising. Another route to coastal destinations, Charmadi Ghat, is not fit for multi-axle buses and the vehicle density is very high.”
‘Suffering losses’
K.T. Rajashekar, chairman of Bus Operators’ Confederation of India, said, “Private operators too have stopped services to several destinations in coastal districts and some places in Kerala. A good number of buses operated on these routes have been stranded midway owing to bad road condition. The operators are incurring a huge loss.”
An Airavat Club bus operated by the KSRTC from Kozhikode to Bengaluru got stranded in a flooded road near Sultan Bathery in Kerala early on Wednesday. A KSRTC official said all the passengers were transported till Mysuru in an express bus, from there they reached Bengaluru in an AC bus.
The official said, “We have been operating buses to Kerala for years, but I believe for the first time we are forced to cancel buses to some destinations in that State owing bad weather.”
Owing to landslips in Sakleshpur and Subramanya Road, the Railways on Wednesday diverted Bengaluru – Kannur/Karwar Express train via Tirupattur, Palakkad, and Shoranur. Many passengers were stranded at Yeshwantpur station on Wednesday as the authorities failed to inform them about the delay in departure timings of Kannur/Karwar express. The train that was scheduled to depart at 7.15 p.m. left Yeshwantpur at 11 p.m. The Yeshwantpur–Mangaluru train services scheduled for Thursday will be operated only till Hassan.
