Mangaluru: The vehicular movement in the district was thrown out of gear for a few hours, due to heavy inflow of vehicles into the district, and diversionary routes, on Friday. According to the KSRTC and the Dakshina Kannada Bus Owners Association, a total 600 buses were deployed for the event, that was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Traffic snarls hit as early as 10 am on the city’s outskirts, on the road that was leading to the venue. Elaborate arrangements were made to park the vehicles in different locations, close to the event venue. “The traffic pile up was heavy during the arrival of attendees, as one of the major highways —Surathkal to Kottara—leading to the venue, was blocked, as the Prime Minister was travelling throughon this road to the venue. The vehicles plying on this road were diverted to alternate routes, which are not wide,” said a traffic police official. KSRTC Mangaluru division had deputed a total of 467 KSRTC buses, including 300 buses from Hassan and Chikkamagaluru divisions. Rajesh Shetty, divisional controller, KSRTC, Mangaluru, said that from the Mangaluru division, a total of 133 buses were deployed, to ferry attendees after a request from the district administration, and another 34 buses were deployed for police duty. Apart from that, 200 and 100 buses were roped in from Hassan and Chikkamagaluru districts for the event, respectively.
Jayasheela Adyanthaya, president of the bus owners’ association, said that 50% of the private buses were diverted to ferry attendees to the venue, and the rest were put into regular service. “The passenger load was less on Friday, due to the Prime Minister’s visit,” he said, adding that no regular commuters were inconvenienced. Apart from KSRTC and other buses, a lot of people arrived at the venue in private vehicles, taxis and minibuses.
However, the lack of public transportation left regular commuters waiting for buses. A senior citizen who had arrived from Kerala, along with her family, and had to go to Surathkal, was seen walking to reach her home in the scorching sun, near the venue. However, with the help of local police, she was dropped off at home. Commuters from the other parts of Dakshina Kannada complained that there were no buses available for regular travel.
Many truckers parked the vehicles beside the national highway at Nanthoor, as they did not want to risk going on a new route with their heavy loads, and wait till 6pm when the restrictions were lifted. The diversionary routes have a lot of narrow roads, and are steep. At Mangaluru International Airport, the flights had minimal delay, especially during the arrival and departure of the Prime Minister, said the airport’s spokesperson. He added that the earlier road to reach MIA from the city was diverted through Gurupura-Kaikamba. However, the police allowed travellers to commute on the Kavoor-Bajpe route on Friday, which was a breather for many.
Traffic snarls hit as early as 10 am on the city’s outskirts, on the road that was leading to the venue. Elaborate arrangements were made to park the vehicles in different locations, close to the event venue. “The traffic pile up was heavy during the arrival of attendees, as one of the major highways —Surathkal to Kottara—leading to the venue, was blocked, as the Prime Minister was travelling throughon this road to the venue. The vehicles plying on this road were diverted to alternate routes, which are not wide,” said a traffic police official. KSRTC Mangaluru division had deputed a total of 467 KSRTC buses, including 300 buses from Hassan and Chikkamagaluru divisions. Rajesh Shetty, divisional controller, KSRTC, Mangaluru, said that from the Mangaluru division, a total of 133 buses were deployed, to ferry attendees after a request from the district administration, and another 34 buses were deployed for police duty. Apart from that, 200 and 100 buses were roped in from Hassan and Chikkamagaluru districts for the event, respectively.
Jayasheela Adyanthaya, president of the bus owners’ association, said that 50% of the private buses were diverted to ferry attendees to the venue, and the rest were put into regular service. “The passenger load was less on Friday, due to the Prime Minister’s visit,” he said, adding that no regular commuters were inconvenienced. Apart from KSRTC and other buses, a lot of people arrived at the venue in private vehicles, taxis and minibuses.
However, the lack of public transportation left regular commuters waiting for buses. A senior citizen who had arrived from Kerala, along with her family, and had to go to Surathkal, was seen walking to reach her home in the scorching sun, near the venue. However, with the help of local police, she was dropped off at home. Commuters from the other parts of Dakshina Kannada complained that there were no buses available for regular travel.
Many truckers parked the vehicles beside the national highway at Nanthoor, as they did not want to risk going on a new route with their heavy loads, and wait till 6pm when the restrictions were lifted. The diversionary routes have a lot of narrow roads, and are steep. At Mangaluru International Airport, the flights had minimal delay, especially during the arrival and departure of the Prime Minister, said the airport’s spokesperson. He added that the earlier road to reach MIA from the city was diverted through Gurupura-Kaikamba. However, the police allowed travellers to commute on the Kavoor-Bajpe route on Friday, which was a breather for many.