The dreadful state of roads across the State is draining the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation of its resources, pushing up maintenance cost of its buses by 25 per cent even as loss in revenue from fares continues.
First off, the cost per km (CPK) of a KSRTC bus has gone up to Rs 17.55, from Rs 14.53 two years ago. The corporation replaces tyres to its fleet of 6,000 buses every year, as the tyre mileage has dipped considerably. This is over and above the damage being caused to other parts of the bus while plying on bumpy roads.
“Bad roads are one of the reasons for the rise in the maintenance cost of the buses. As 45 per cent of KSRTC’s operations are in rural areas, mainly on village, zilla panchayat and district roads, buses get damaged faster,” corporation Director (Security and Vigilance) Bhaskar Rao told Deccan Herald.

Maximum damage
According to Mr Rao, roads in many north Karnataka districts, as also stretches like Sakleshpura-Mangalore, Virajpet-Kerala, Chintamani-Kolar and many others, are in a bad state. Maximum damage is being caused to buses that come under Karnataka Sarige (ordinary buses) as they ply mostly on district roads.
An example is the Mysore-Bangalore stretch. The CPK of buses plying on this route was very high three years ago. But after the formation of four-lane expressway, CPK has come down substantially, he explained.
What then is the solution? Unlike the Tourism Department, which keeps complaining about bad approach roads to tourist destinations, KSRTC has decided to ‘evolve’ a solution on its own. It is fitting “air bellows” and “wavellar suspension” to all its buses to overcome the problem of bad roads.
“These are multi-purpose devices. They mainly absorb shocks and minimise damage to the vehicle while plying on pot-holed roads. Moreover, passengers will have a comfortable ride on such roads,” Mr Rao said.

Dhaba stops to go
KSRTC at its recent Board meeting has decided not to stop its buses at dhabas for refreshment  “Buses will be st-opped only at our bus stands as passengers are complaining about unhygienic food at the dhabas”, he said.