Daijiworld Media Network - Bantwal (RD/CN)

Bantwal, Dec 11: The KSRTC is committed to providing adequate bus services by setting up bus stands and depots across the state at the earliest, said R Ashok, state transport minister. He was speaking at the inaugural of the new KSRTC bus stand in Vittal on Tuesday December 9.

KSRTC has undertaken several projects this year and Rs 1.5 crore has been released for setting up a bus stand at B C Road, an equal amount has been released for completion of the work here and Rs 2.10 crore has been sanctioned for a depot in Udupi, he said.

A third depot will be developed at Kuntikan in Mangalore at a cost of Rs 1.56 crore and the extension of Puttur bus stand will take place under the same project, he added. Ujire bus stand will be developed at a cost of Rs 10 lac and plans have been drawn up for bus depots at Subramanya and Sullia, informed the minister.

Ashok added that KSRTC will introduce Volvo bus services in Mangalore and plans are drawn to set up a hi-tech bus stand at Uppinangady. He announced that free season tickets would be issued to students studying in classes up to tenth and senior citizens will be provided discounts of 25 percent, when traveling in KSRTC buses. Ashok added that other concessions would also be made available on season tickets, with the focus on  social commitment rather than on profits.

Krishna J Palemar, district-in-charge minister, Dakshina Kannada, said that people have a good opinion about KSRTC and its fleet of 20,000 buses. Hence, there is a need for private bus operators to offer services on par with KSRTC, he said.

MP D V Sadananda Gowda said that the state government has been focusing on education, health, and connectivity. He conveyed to the transport minister that expectations of better connectivity, harboured by people residing in remote areas, had to be met on priority.

The programme was presided over by Puttur MLA Mallikaprasad. Hariprasad Varma was honoured o the occasion for donating the plot for the Vittal bus stand. Coastal Development Authority chairman B Nagaraj Shetty, former MLA Chandrahas Shetty Bolantoor, zilla panchayat member H Jagannat Salian, taluk panchayat member Ramdas Shenoy, Sesappa Gowda Madattar, Hariprasad Yadav, Dharmavati B Gowda, and Vittal gram panchayat president Yashoda G Rao were present on the dais.

The Vittal–Punacha–Puttur bus service, awaited for long by Punacha residents, was flagged off by the transport minister on the occasion.