Inter-state bus services off after violence in Kerala

Services of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) to Kerala from Mysuru were suspended on Thursday, following the Kerala bandh over the Sabarimala issue.

KSRTC suspended its services as per the directions of the police department. Several organisations in Kerala had called for a bandh after two women entered the temple on Wednesday.

Sources in KSRTC said 20 out of 48 bus services from the city were suspended. The services resumed after 6 pm. Similarly, no buses from Kerala reached the city on Thursday. As many as 60 buses from Kerala make trips to Mysuru every day.

Devotees of Lord Ayyappa and members of Sabarimala Kshetra Samrakshana Kriya Samiti staged a protest in the city, against the two women and the Kerala government. The devotees, who gathered at Gandhi Square here, raised slogans against the two women and the Kerala government.

“The women have hurt the religious sentiments of the devotees. The Kerala government intentionally allowed the women to the temple,” they said.

Two premium Volvo buses, operated by the KSRTC division of Mangaluru, were damaged in Kasargod district of Kerala.

Mangaluru KSRTC divisional controller Deepak Kumar confirmed that the window panes of a multi-axel Volvo bus returning to Mangaluru from Ernakulam was damaged by miscreants in the wee
hours.

In another incident, miscreants barged into the bus stand in Kasargod and damaged another multi-axle Volvo bus of KSRTC parked there.

Mangaluru and Puttur KSRTC divisions suffered a total loss of over Rs 7.41 lakh due to bandh over the Sabarimala row in Kerala. Kumar said KSRTC, Mangaluru, was forced to cancel 43 schedules (14,630 km), resulting in a revenue loss of Rs 6.04 lakh.

The Puttur division of KSRTC was forced to cancel 24 schedules (4,842 km) and suffered a revenue loss of Rs 1.36 lakh. KSRTC suffered a total loss of Rs 10.16 lakh, sources said.