With the Motor Vehicles Department setting a new deadline of October 31 for implementing the revised running time for stage carriers, the KSRTC authorities are in a hurry to gather data as the Corporation lacks any comprehensive list or a common criteria for the running time of vehicles with old permits.
Responding to an RTI query, the State Public Information Officer at the KSRTC chief office here has listed the running time for Super Fast Passengers (SFPs) as 1.45 minutes for one kilometre. However, reply to another RTI query, filed in the Office of the District Transport Officer, KSRTC at Pala, says that it was 1.40 minutes for SFPs. Both the offices also acknowledged that there were no official documents available which denote the year of implementing of these running times.
The case is the same with most of the units. The Regional Transport Authority also expressed helplessness as many schedules started decades ago lack any such documents. In each district, there are over 1000 buses. It is a complex task to track the timings and travelling distance of all types of buses.
The revision in running time was implemented on the basis of an order of the State Transport Authority, dated November 8, 2011. The order says that fresh permits should be issued as per the revised running time and for old permits which were issued before 2011, the schedules should be revised according to the revised time.
On September 7 this year, Transport Commissioner Rishi Raj Singh said that the time schedule of stage carriers in the state would be revised by October 31 as part of the efforts to prevent competition among private buses in the state. When asked, he said that the attempts were underway. ‘’Notifications have been issued to all the RTOs in the state. The process is time-consuming, yet the work will be completed soon,’’ he added.
‘’Sticking to the pre-existing running time has caused a discrepancy between the old and new permits which had been conducting service on the same route. The drivers are under tremendous pressure as the schedules get tight as the old running time do not fit in the current scenario of increased vehicle population and busy streets,’’ KSRTC Drivers’ Union general secretary R Ayyappan said.
The pressure of reaching the destination on time compel the drivers to resort to over speeding, which increases the chances of accidents. The tight schedules are forcing the drivers to cut down their resting time between the schedules also.
Source: New Indian Express
