The bus accident near Pavagada, Tumakuru district, in which five youth, all between 18 and 22 years lost their lives, has exposed the need for a more robust State-run bus network especially in rural areas of Karnataka. Passengers were travelling on the roof of the ill-fated bus and many were clinging onto the footboard when it overturned. As a result more than 40 people were injured, eight of whom are in critical condition.
Though Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) operates 13 services every day between Y.N. Hosakote and Pavagada, there are not enough, and passengers are forced to rely on private operators who drive overcrowded buses with impunity. Hundreds of villagers who gathered at the spot after the accident to help with rescue efforts blamed the police and the transport authorities for not cracking down on private operators who do not follow the rules.
On March 13, The Hindu had reported that over 3,000 villages where KSRTC has monopoly do not have access to its services. Among the 17 districts where KSRTC has monopoly, Chitradurga and Tumakuru (both neighbouring districts) have the highest number of villages deprived of KSRTC services. A total of 578 villages in Chitradurga and Tumakuru have 510 villages that do not have KSRTC bus service.
A KSRTC official said that private buses were operating on this route even before the corporation got monopoly under the new comprehensive area scheme.
Two buses were cancelled
“As they received permits before the State government had issued the notification, they continue to operate stage carriage buses with specific schedules. We cannot run buses clashing with their timetable. On Saturday morning, two private buses that were supposed to be operated from Y.N. Hosakote were cancelled. As a result this bus was overcrowded,” said the official.
Villagers say the number of buses are just not enough. As a result, reliance on private operators has become ubiquitous.
For instance, many villages in the Malnad area have no proper transport facilities. KSRTC also stopped services to many routes during the pandemic and normalcy has not been restored yet, said villagers.
In parts of Sakleshpur and Alur taluks, students have to leave their homes very early to catch buses. It’s the same in N.R. Pura, Sringeri and Koppa taluk as Sahakara Sarige, a transport firm that functioned on the cooperative model, stopped its services.
Reliance on ‘tam-tams’
Likewise, there are a number of remote villages in the backward Kalyana Karnataka region, especially those along the borders of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra, which have little or no bus facilities offered by State-owned Kalyana Karnataka Transport Corporation. People normally use three-wheelers, locally called tam-tams, operated by local private players. These compact vehicles, often overloaded with people and material, are notorious for their rash driving.
“The problem is severe in Raichur district. There are a number of villages along the Andhra border that have no bus facilities. School children from these villages either walk in the hot sun or sit in crowded Tam-Tams. There are many children, especially girls, who have discontinued their studies precisely for lack of bus facilities,” Hafeez Ulha, a social activist from Raichur told The Hindu.
