BMTC, KSRTC buses for election duty

The Election Commission may use 5,000 buses from state transport corporations for election-related works on Saturday and Sunday.

Officials said the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) may give 3,500 buses while the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) was in talks to give about 1,500 buses for the two days.

“As of now we are yet to finalise the number of buses. But it may be around 3,500 buses. The requisition request as well as several issues will be finalised on Tuesday,” said an official from KSRTC. A BMTC official said around 1,500 buses may be requisitioned but no decision has been taken on the number of buses.

Asked whether the lack of 3,500 buses for two days will affect the operations of the KSRTC, the official said the buses will be taken from depots across Karnataka. “Buses will be removed from routes where the demand is very less or where it will cause minimum inconvenience,” he explained.

The daily rent for buses for election duty has been raised from Rs 8,600 to Rs 10,000, which will benefit the corporations, especially the BMTC that clocks lesser revenue on Sundays. However, commuters on Saturday may experience some inconvenience.