Mounesh Vishwakarma
Daijiworld Media Network - Bantwal (SP)
Bantwal, May 22: The commuters from the area, who have been dealing with dust and disturbances when waiting for buses here, with the fervent hope that their dream of a well-equipped bus stand will rid them of these problems, are in for a shock. Because, the dream bus stand planned to be built at BC Road at a cost of Rs 7.5 crore will facilitate passengers meant to travel towards Mangaluru, but not those going to Puttur, Dharmasthala, Bengaluru, Mysuru, Uppinangady, Vittal etc!
This is so because the site allocated for the bus stand exists on the left side of BC Road - Mangaluru national highway, which falls on one side of the spot where the overbridge ends. The location of the bus stand makes it almost impossible for buses coming from the direction of Mangaluru to enter the bus stand. Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) officials said at present, bus stand works will keep in mind serving people bound for Mangaluru because of location disadvantage.
Of course, reaching the bus stand by foot does not pose a problem, as it exists just 300 metres from BC Road Junction. But all buses are expected to enter the bus stand normally, but here, because of the overbridge, this is out of question. While buses coming from Dharmasthala, Vittal, Puttur etc can reach the bus stand by using the service road, this is not possible for buses coming from the direction of Mangaluru.
On the highway, the stretch between Kaikamba and BC Road has been made one way, and the overbridge ends where the buses are supposed to turn towards the bus stand. If a cross road is built here, the speed of vehicles approaching from the overbridge will be hampered, and traffic rules forbid forming long line of vehicles on the overbridge. There is no provision to build a cross road from the highway to the bus stand. So, the buses coming from Mangaluru will have to be stopped by the side of the highway, the practice prevalent as of now. As such, the overbridge here, which has been blamed for every problem including traffic jam here, has once again proved a bane for the upcoming bus stand.
BC Road is a town that is located within a short distance from the district headquarters. Moreover, it happens to be an important link to reach cities like Bengaluru and Mysuru, and other places like Uppinangady, Puttur, Dharmasthala etc. A large number of people from here travel to these places, and stand in a crowd by the side of the highway to catch their buses. The ardent hope of the commuters of getting a good bus stand to wait for buses stands shot down.
The only possibility for buses from Mangaluru direction to enter the new bus stand is to take a right turn at BC Road Junction, move on service road towards Mangaluru, and enter the bus stand. But because of the fact that this service road is narrow, it cannot handle traffic of so many buses coming from all directions. This will further complicate the already over-burdened traffic chaos here. Therefore, in all likelihood, this bus stand will be off limits for buses moving on the other direction.
Dakshina Kannada district in-charge minister, who represents this constituency, is happy that his long-cherished dream of providing a government bus stand has materialized. But it is not known whether he has realized that this bus stand will serve only those who travel towards Mangaluru. One sincerely hopes that he will think over this issue and draw up plan to see that the new bus stand serves passengers moving in all directions.
Diwakar, assistant executive engineer of KSRTC Puttur division admits that technical problems have arisen because of the location of the bus stand including the fact that it is adjacent to the overbridge. He forees that the buses coming from Mangaluru will have to pick up or offload passengers by the side of highway as before without entering the bus stand.