‘KSRTC Buses Plying in City has Hurt our Business’-Pvt Bus Owners Assn
Mangaluru: During a press meet held at Maharaja Restaurant-Mangaluru, the President of D K Bus Operators’ Association (R) Pathripadi A said, ” For nearly 104 years, DK Bus Operators’ Association has been providing services to the low-class society, students and other daily wage workers as per their travel convenience. With Mangaluru City growing and lot of infrastructures/buildings coming up, there has also been a growth in the population of workers/ labourers, who depend on public transport- and we have catered to their needs by providing bus service even to the interior locations”
“With the present rise in diesel prices, and also the prices of tyres, spare parts and maintenance costs going up the bus operators have been struggling in carrying on with the business. And also due to the dilapidated conditions of the roads, there has been drastic wear and tear of our vehicles, which has costs us enormous money to fix. And also the rising cost of the insurance which is above Rs 1 lakh has also put us in hardship to manage our trade. With the diesel price at present around Rs 64 has also affected us a lot. But no one is listening to our grievances nor helping us out with the problems that we are facing” added Pathripadi.
“When it comes to students nearly 5,09,542 students have benefited from our discount bus fares, where we have provided up to 60%-75% discounts, which has cost us around Rs 14,25,92,155 to date. And we have provided free rides to differently-abled or poor people to their destinations, by not charging a single paisa. And while we have been like Good Samaritans to various class of people in the society when it comes to providing transportation for them, but in the meantime, the government has played games with us by introducing the green coloured KSRTC buses, which have literally taken most of our business,” said Pathripady.
He further said, “We have no issues of these KSRTC buses operating in the City, but they don’t follow the time rules. Some KSRTC buses operate late, some of them early, thereby messing up our time schedule. And also they don’t go to interior places where citizens need to reach. And while we are providing the best service as per our commuters needs, the govt. has ruined our income by allowing these KSRTC buses, where most of them don’t serve the commuters needs. Rules should be rules for everyone- and not flexible rules for KSRTC, and tough rules for the private buses. This is total discrimination and calls for anger between the private bus owners and government.”
While concluding Pathripadi said, “While many of the seniors, adults, students and other commuters have appreciated the service provided to them by us, we also would like the media to highlight our services so that more and more commuters trust us and rely more on private buses, thereby help us carry on with our trade, if not as the situation gets worse, chances are that we may cease our business, and our family will be all affected, including our children who want to continue their family business. We also request the government to look into our concerns and problems and rectify them at the earliest, and we also request the traffic police not to target only private buses, but also KSRTC buses if they break the rules. Looking forward to full support from the citizens and journos of Mangaluru, we remain thanking you in anticipation”.
Board members and members namely B P Diwakar, Ramchandra Pilar, A K Jayaram Sheka, Jayasheela Adyanthaya, V K Putran, Dilraj Alva, Raghuram Shetty, Sathish Talapady, Bhasker Amin, Sharath Maroli, U N Abdul Kareem, Suresh Alva, were among many others present during the press meet.
