Manipal-Kasargod Volvo bus service starts

RTO in Manipal soon, says Transport Minister Ashok

Speaking after flagging off the Manipal-Kasargod inter-state low floor air conditioned Volvo bus service here on Saturday, he said that about 2.31 acres of land has been already procured for the purpose.

The Government is all set to build a sophisticated infrastructural bus stop at Bannanje in Udupi, for which the possession of 3 acres of land belonging to Public Works Department is cleared. A driving track for KSRTC bus drivers will be set up at the newly constructed bus stop at a cost of Rs 50 lakh, he added.

The new KSRTC unit at B C Road near Mangalore has already started functioning. Tender process is on for a unit to be constructed at Sullia.  The Government is keen to set up bus stands with advanced equipment services in Uppinangadi, Puttur and Udupi, Ashok said.

Despite odds

He said that the introduction of government bus services in this part of the region, after a long gap of 20 years, is a dream come true. There has been a long standing demand of over 20 years by the people of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi for the introduction of this service. Due to various technical reasons, this demand could not be fulfiled.

The Government’s decision to introduce Volvo bus services between states and districts has nothing to do with the rivalry with private bus owners. Rather, it is intended to offer better services to passengers based on healthy rivalry. By and large, it is the acceptance of the public that matters.

The final choice to have only private bus service or Government or both should be left to the public. There should not be any compulsion or force on the public. The department has faced huge opposition, even court case, on the issue of commencing KSRTC service between Udupi and Mangalore. Finally, it has got the permission to ply the Volvo service. The real credit of introduction of this new service should go to the people of the undivided Dakshina Kannada, he added.

Ashok said the KSRTC, in a similar move, had introduced 150 Volvo AC buses in Mysore, where, the service was so successful that most of the private operators withdrew their service.  He said that with the introduction of this new inter-state Volvo bus service, the frequency of the Volvo buses between Mangalore and Manipal has reduced to half an hour from the present one hour.

Fisheries and Information Technology Minister Anand Vasanth Asnotikar, Udupi MLA Raghupathy Bhat, Kaup MLA Lalaji R Mendon, Byndoor MLA Laxminarayana, CMC President Dinaker Shetty, MLC Kota Srinivas Poojary, MLA Sathish Reddy and others were present.