Thousands of people, including migrant workers, students and others thronged the BMTC bus stand in Majestic on Sunday, immediately after the State government announced that it would ferry stranded migrants to their respective districts without any fare.
People were seen desperate to catch buses to reach their native places. Due to the absence of public transport within the city, many walked to Majestic while others managed to hitch hike or share autorickshaws.
The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) officials said that though the service was only for labourers, there were quite a few others as well. “We cannot scrutinise it and cannot ask them not to use the service. Hence, everyone is being ferried for free, irrespective of the economic background,” an official admitted.
Veerendra Patil (name changed), a student hailing from Belagavi, who was stuck in the city since the lockdown was declared, said that he was staying in his brother’s room in Malleswaram and walked to Majestic after getting to know about the bus services. “I’m aware that this is mainly for migrant labourers who cannot afford to stay. I’m ready to pay but I need to reach my place,” the student said.
Another person, who was heading to Bidar, said that he reached Majestic around 11 a.m. and boarded a bus to Bidar at 3 p.m.
“Though it is only for migrant workers and I can afford to pay, I have no other way to reach Bidar. The government should have planned better and not made any last minute changes, which is leading to chaos here,” he said.
On Saturday, hundreds of people stayed put in Majestic for the night hoping that they could board a bus on Sunday as KSRTC stopped plying buses after 5 p.m.
Volunteers from ‘Naavu Bharatiyaru’ said that they got a “distress call” around 8.30 p.m. and they somehow arranged food for over 200 people who were forced to stay due to unavailability of buses to their districts and local transport.
“By the time we reached there, it was around 10.30 p.m. and we found over 200 people near the bus stop near Shantala Silks. We distributed food for around 100 people, most of them migrants,” a volunteer said.
Sources in the KSRTC told The Hindu that the corporation provided food to over 300 people who were at the bus stations.
“As there are many bus stops within Majestic and as it is huge, we could not easily spot people staying overnight. We provided people with food and restroom facilities,” a KSRTC official said.
Even on Sunday, around 200 people were forced to spend their night in Majestic as they could not board any bus to their respective districts. KSRTC provided them with food and have made sure they have access to restrooms. “We will send them as soon as possible on Monday morning,” a KSRTC official said.
Deputy Chief Minister and Transport Minister Laxman Savadi and senior KSRTC officials visited Majestic in the night and took stock of the situation.
No decision on refund
On Saturday, KSRTC operated 120 buses from Majestic in Bengaluru to various districts in which 3,600 people had travelled paying single fare. There has not been any decision on whether there would be any refund for those who travelled on Saturday, sources in the KSRTC said.
Earlier on Saturday morning, KSRTC came under severe attack for charging two-way fares for those travelling after which the Chief Minister intervened and directed KSRTC to only charge single fare and told the Labour Department to bear the cost of the other side fare.