Keralites do not have any direct involvement in the battle for Cauvery water between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu which has turned the streets in two states into war zone. But Malayalis who want to visit Kerala for Onam have been put in great peril as the inter-state bus service between Karnataka and Kerala have been stopped due to the widespread violence.
The private bus operators have bore the brunt of violence. Pramod Kutty, president of the Kerala Bus Owners Association, Bengaluru, said around 300 services to and from Kerala were hit by the violence. We have cancelled all the services and refunded the money,” Pramod told.
“The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation and Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation have also stopped their services. There is no point in taking risk,” he said. Compared to private operators, the loss of the two state-owned bus services is miniscule. Kerala RTC has been running around 27 services and their Karnataka counterpart has around 60 services.
Kerala State Road Transport Corporation has been conducting around 27 services and their Karnataka counterpart operates around 60 services during this time. Considering each multi-axle buses carries 49 passengers, while the number of passengers in other buses would be around 40, the violence has thwarted the plans of around more than 15,000 passengers,
According to the surge fare system of luxury buses, a passenger has to pay between Rs 1150- Rs 2,100 on Tuesday to get home and Rs 582 to Rs 1408 in Kerala state buses and Rs 600-Rs 1124 in Karnataka buses.
All Kerala Luxury Bus Operators and Agents Association president Riyaz A J said the activists has set many buses of KPN Travels ablaze and another bus of Sangeetha Travels was vandalised. “The loss of bus operators will be minimal as buses are insured. But if anything happen to innocent passenger, it will be disastrous and cannot be compensated,” he said. Venkatesh, customer in charge of Kallada Travels, which conducts the highest number services in this route, said: “We have stopped the services of around 50 buses coming from Bengaluru and Hyderabad via Bengaluru to Kerala and vice-versa.
The passengers who sought extension of the travel to Tuesday and Wednesday were given new slots and other passengers were given back their money,” he said.
Riyaz A J, owner of Sona Travels which conducts services to south Indian cities from Kerala, said apart from the travel woes of passengers,each bus has to pay Rs 4,550, Rs 2,225 and Rs 1,900 as tax in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, respectively, besides Rs 4680 as toll at various toll booths. “If we are forced to cancel the services a couple of more days, the loss would be heavy for each private bus operators,” he said.
