Residents of Kalalawadi village off HD Kote Road on the outskirts of Mysuru are facing transportation issues as bus services have stopped for the last two years due to the poor condition of the road from Gurur to Kalalawadi village.
The villagers have to walk a distance of about 2 kilometres to reach the bus stop. Most of the villagers depend on bus services to commute to work for education, hospital, shopping, etc. The absence of a safe road adds to the agony in the life of the residents, especially school-going children and elderly people as they are afraid of wild animal attacks, mostly of leopards.
"Petitions have been given to the KSRTC bus depot for extension of bus services from Kalalawadi Gate on HD Kote Road up to Kalalawadi village. But, the officials have not taken any step in this regard," said Shivaram, Grama Panchayat Member.
There are 80 families in the village and agriculture is the main source of their livelihood. However, they commute to Mysuru city for some jobs. The students have to walk a total of about 4 kilometres up and down to go to school as the village school has only up to class 7. The parents are struggling to drop them to the bus stop and also to pick them up on their return after their school hours.
The road is poorly lit during the night as there are no street lights. The Grama Panchayat officials said that the lights had been sanctioned and were yet to be installed.