Students, commuters affected due to buses on election duty

Mangaluru: Students and other regular commuters, who depend on KSRTC and other private buses, had a harrowing time on Thursday, as there were skeletal services, since most of the buses were deputed for poll-related work. According to KSRTC officials, buses that have been deputed for poll duty will start normal operations from Friday.
Rita and her son Maven Louis, from Madanthyar, who had sn admission interview scheduled at a private college in Mangaluru, said they had to wait for a long time to catch a bus to reach the city.
“To our bad luck, the bus broke down near Pumpwell, and we were forced to catch an autorickshaw to reach the college, so that we don’t miss the interview,” shared Rita.
Another student said that the available buses were crowded. “We had a tough time reaching college. I have decided to leave home early on Friday,” said a student from Vagga in Bantwal.
Meanwhile, several private buses which were hired for ferrying voters to polling booths on Wednesday, too remained off the road on Thursday.
KSRTC officials agreed about disruptions in bus service, but assured that bus operations will get back to normal from Friday.
Rajesh Shetty, divisional controller, KSRTC, Mangaluru, said that a total 182 KSRTC red buses from Mangaluru and Udupi divisions were deputed for poll-related work. Out of 182 buses, 135 buses were deputed for ferrying polling officials, and the rest of the 47 buses to ferry police personnel.
“While the 135 buses are back to carrying out normal service, the rest will resume operations from Friday. The buses deputed to police officials are dropping them to various places on Thursday,” he said.
Another official added that there was disruption in bus service at Belthangady and Puttur taluks. “Bus operations started getting back to normal from Thursday at noon there,” the official said.