With only a week left for Dasara festivities to take off, people coming to Mysuru to witness the grand celebrations can expect comfortable travel in brand new buses being added to its existing fleet by the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) in Mysuru.
May be happenstance, but KSRTC Mysuru division is getting these buses at the right time with the city gearing up for the festivities that will unfold from September 21.
Eight brand new automatic transmission multi-axle buses (Airavat Club Class) and 50 Sarige buses are being added ahead of the festivities. With the addition of eight automatic transmission buses, the number of multi-axle buses has gone up to 32.
“Once their induction, KSRTC will be operating two multi-axle buses each to Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Chennai, and Bengaluru (originating from Madikeri) to draw tourists,” said M. Vasu, Divisional Controller, KSRTC, Mysuru.
He told The Hindu that auto transmission buses are the new norm with Euro 4 Engines and the division will be having 14 such buses of the Scania make with the addition of eight new buses.
“Soon, Volvo will also be coming up with auto transmission buses. As of now, we are operating its geared multi-axle buses and KSRCT will gradually switch over to gearless futuristic buses under premium transport that lessens the load on drivers,” he added.
Mr. Vasu announced that special package tours for Dasara will be launched to take tourists to the best of the tourist destinations in and around Mysuru and in the region. The tours have been customised keeping in view tourists’ convenience and interests. They will be called “Darshini” tours — Giri Darshini, Jala Darshini and Deva Darshini.
Giri Darshini, the tour of hills and temple sites, will cover Bandipur, Gopalaswamy Hills, Biligiri Ranganathaswamy (BR) Hills, Nanjangud, and Chamundi hills, covering a distance of 325 km. Jala Darshini, a package of waterfalls and nature tourism, will cover major waterfalls and wildlife camps in Mysuru and Kodagu districts. The places include the Golden Temple at Bylakuppe, Dubare Elephant camp, Cauvery Nisargadhama, Abbi waterfalls, Raja Seat, and Harangi dam. In Deva Darshan, tourists will be taken to Talakad, Shivanasamudra, Mudukutore, Somanathapura, and Srirangapatna. The tour covers a distance of 250 km. Such tours in the past had received a good response.
KSRTC will be announcing the fares and the schedules soon. The package tours will originate from and conclude at the sub-urban bus terminus.
KSRTC Mysuru division will be connecting Mysuru with key cities in the State and inter-state additionally to bring in more visitors for the Dasara festivities.
Divisional Controller (Rural division) H. Vasu told The Hindu that 125 buses, including Sarige and premium services, will run exclusively for Mysuru Dasara in addition to the existing services to the same cities. Among the special Dasara services, majority will be to Bengaluru which is considered the main gateway to Mysuru.
Everyday, over 500 trips, excluding the trips from the Bengaluru division, are operated between Mysuru and Bengaluru.
The combined daily trips will be around 700, according to KSRTC authorities. Mysuru has a depot for handling services exclusively between the cities with a fleet of buses under its control. The frequency of operations will be more to cater to needs of tourists coming from Bengaluru, he said.