MANGALORE : The Nagarika Hitarakshana Vedike has questioned the Regional Transport Authority as to why the KSRTC buses were still not operating on the Mangalore-Udupi route and also other routes in the city, despite the requisite amount paid a year ago itself. It may be recalled here that the RTA had recently said that the KSRTC had not applied for permits to run buses on the local routes.
However, Hanumanth Kamath, President of the Vedike who had availed information under the Right to Information Act has said that the information obtained by him had revealed that the Mangalore Division of the KSRTC had paid Rs 1.07 lakh to the RTA seeking permits to run 41 buses in Mangalore city limits and 12 buses to Udupi. Later on in another application a sum of Rs 27,900 had been paid while seeking temporary permits to run 25 city buses and six buses on the Mangalore-Udupi route. The KSRTC had applied for temporary permits on these routes after the RTA said it was not possible to provide permanent permits on these routes.
The Vedike President has further questioned how the RTA has said that it had not received any application from the KSRTC to run city buses. On the reason cited that the permits could not be granted in view of a DC circular issued around 20 years ago banning movement of KSRTC buses either from State Bank buss stand area or Hampankatta, Kamath questioned how the circular issued 20 years ago holds relevant even now .
Though it is not yet clear if the RTA was lying in this matter or if it had succumbed to private bus lobby, Hanumanth Kamath strongly suspects some unknown hands behind this. The Vedike also wants legal action against the RTA officials in case it was proved that they were lying. It further feels that the failure of the RTA to permit KSRTC to run city buses when it had permitted contract carriage buses to operate from State Bank area in the year 2004, also gave room for doubts.
Kamath further has demanded that the 1994 circular of the DC be cancelled and the Mangalore-Udupi KSRTC buses commenced at the earliest.
Stating that it had already been over a year since the transport minister Ashok had hinted at an early commencement of Mangalore-Udupi KSRTC bus services, the Vedike has demanded that the authorities give the green signal for the buses without succumbing to any lobby.
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