Rickety, old buses deployed on outskirts of Bengaluru, locals raise concerns

BENGALURU: The government is introducing new KSRTC and BMTC buses at regular intervals, but these are limited to service in the city. On the outskirts, however, it is very scary to see the condition of buses and people are forced to travel in the rickety vehicles as there is no other way.

Locals say that they do not know how many months have passed since the window glasses were broken. The front portion of the buses have been painted to cover up rust. Such creaking old buses can found at the bus station in Nelamangala on the outskirts of Bengaluru.

Local citizen Narasimhaiah alleged that the Transport Department is sending old KSRTC and BMTC buses that are 70 per cent damaged to semi urban and rural areas. “There is no safety in such buses for senior citizens, pregnant women or children. Strange sounds comeg from the mechanical parts and there are no proper window glasses. The seats and iron rods are rusted, and the bus tyres are almost worn out. People travel on such buses in fear and the buses are usually overcrowded after the implementation of the Shakti scheme. They also don’t stop for school students”, he pointed out.

Narasimaiah urged the government to provide better buses to rural areas and insisted that rural and semi urban areas should be treated equally with cities like Bengaluru.

Harish, another local, says that the buses are damaged and rusted on the one hand while they also have to bear the effect of Shakti free travel scheme for women.

“After the implementation of free travel for women, passengers rush to board the government buses. Most of the buses are better disposed of for scrap instead of operating them on the outskirts. Rural areas require better buses. Many students and people come to Bengaluru in search of jobs. If anything happens to the bus at night, who would be held responsible?” he questioned.

“Earlier, there was competition between private and government buses. But now, due to the lack of private buses in rural areas, government buses are carrying double the capacity of passengers. There are fewer buses or they don’t run on time. The authorities concerned should pay more attention to providing better-conditioned buses”, he insisted.