Satellite bus stations need of the hour

The importance of Kempegowda Bus Station (KBS), or the so-called Majestic bus stand as a critical transport hub, couldn’t have been put more aptly by Shadakshari, Assistant Traffic Manager, Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), KBS.

With Bangalore’s population touching 84 lakhs, crowds in Majestic area have grown exponentially over the years. There is no respite in sight. This was reason enough for the KSRTC and the BMTC to explore satellite bus stations to decongest the place by shifting hundreds of inter-state buses to the outskirts.

Majestic simply doesn’t have the infrastructure or space to accommodate the increasing fleet of both the KSRTC and the BMTC.

But the satellite stations, save the ones on Mysore Road and at Shantinagar, haven’t materialised quick enough. The Mysore Road Satellite Bus Station (MCTC) is the only one that’s taking a big load off the KBS. Currently, about 1,600 services have been shifted from the KSRTC Majestic stand to the MCTC. The Shantinagar bus station has only about 200 services shifted from the KBS, although there are plans to shift another 300 services.

The KSRTC and the BMTC would have to do much more than that, since Majestic still receives roughly two-lakh footfalls every single day, as Divisional Controller (KBS), Prakash Babu, informs this newspaper.

Started in 2005, MCTC has services to Mysore, North Kerala and Chennai. The passenger load in Majestic is handled by the Shuttle Service buses. “Most of the passengers and bus services are bound towards Mysore, Mangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and North, North East and North West Karnataka. We have already solved the problem of Mysore and partly Chennai. What remains now is mainly the northern parts of the State and beyond,” says Rangaraju, Assistant Engineer, KSRTC and Project Manager, Inter Modal Transit Centre (IMTC).

For this purpose, the satellite bus stand at Peenya will be operational by August next year. “At Baiyappanahalli, we will have another one, but it is being constructed by the BMRCL and the BDA. The bus terminus will be part of the Metro station,” Rangaraju says.

The KSRTC is also looking for land on Hosur Road near Silk Board for setting up a satellite bus station. However, with most land in the possession of private agencies, the State transport corporation is yet to find a suitable plot.

Pre-IMTC and Post-IMTC

The satellite bus stations will have to come up before the Metro project digs up land, which currently has the Platforms 1 to 5 at the KSRTC’s Majestic bus station.

The BMRCL has occupied 22 acres of the existing 32 acres, on which the KSRTC’s Majestic terminus stands. Platforms 1 to 5 house buses to 184 destinations, mainly within the State. Among these, Shimoga, Chikmagalur, Mangalore, Raichur, Bijapur, Davanagere, Gulbarga and Kundapur are the major routes where the maximum passenger load is experienced.

Prakash Babu, DCO, says he is yet to receive an official letter from the KSRTC central office asking him to shift the platforms to make way for the Metro station work. Whenever that happens, Majestic will become more chaotic and crowded, and the onus will be on the KSRTC to build the satellite bus stands as quickly as possible.

Apart from the underground station works of the Metro, the Rs 1700-crore Inter-Modal Transit Centre (IMTC) will also start work alongside. The complex will have four floors allotted to the KSRTC and the BMTC, while it is rumoured that more than 30 floors will be  given away to commercial enterprises and parking lots. A KSRTC official notes that once the construction work for both starts, the scene in Majestic will be altered for almost five years or even more. People will have to put up with  major inconveniences and it will be difficult for  both the KSRTC and the BMTC to run the operations. “The BMRCL only gives orders. When they issue orders, all other corporations follow them. No time is given to take any decisions or find alternatives” complains the official.

Commuters complain

Despite the plans, the commuters find the current chaos unbearable. Says Imna Nungsang, 27, from Nagaland, “I have been in Bangalore on and off since 2007.

However, this time, I have come after a year and I find the City more congested.

People seem to have increased and vehicles have doubled. But it looks like the public transport and roads seem to have shrunk.” Gururajappa, a Shimoga-bound passenger, said: “There are AC waiting rooms for luxury bus passengers who are anyway going to travel in AC buses. The government should provide such facilities to every passenger in Majestic.”

Can better facilities be provided in Majestic? “Yes,” says Olivier Sechiewe from Hamburg Germany. He had reached Majestic terminus with his wife at 4 pm on Friday and wanted to travel to Mysore. After being forced to move from platform to platform, he finally came to realise there are only shuttle services, something he was not informed about.  He wondered why the authorities couldn’t put up sign boards at a certain height where everyone could see?  While there are display boards giving details about timings, services, destinations and platforms, Sechiewe had problems.

“So, I have to go through a board with almost 200 names of local places to find where I want to go. And the timings? Well…