JOIN USBangaloreans may have to brace up for commuting woes as a large number of Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses will be utilised for election duty.
Over 1,000 BMTC buses and 800 KSRTC buses will be at the disposal of the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, on April 16 and 17.
With the polling day, falling between an extended weekend, a large number of people who have made travel plans in advance, within and outside the City, are likely to face commuting problems due to scarcity of buses. According to BMTC officials, the State Election Commission had sought as many as 1,061 buses and they are now at their disposal.
However, they also claim that apart from the buses deployed for election duty, there are about 5,400 other buses which will ply as usual on their regular routes. Thus, there should be no problem, as far as commuting by BMTC buses was concerned.
The officials also stated that the buses on election duty were those that ferried factory workers, schoolchildren, etc, and not the ones that ply on regular routes. Therefore, there would not be any disruption in the services of regular buses.
However, residents who have faced similar situations in the past, say that commuting was going to be hit on the polling day. Similarly, about 800 KSRTC buses are deployed on election duty on April 16-17 and the officials admit that there would be some disruption in its services and that the public should cooperate.