Top Cops Yet Another Initiative! City Buses to Operate Out of service Bus Terminal – The move by police commissioner Kuldeep Jain aims to decongest the stretch between Hamilton Circle (State Bank Circle) and Rao and Rao Circle. All city and service buses, including KSRTC and contract carriage buses, will henceforth stop only at the Service bus stand, and will not go via Hamilton Circle and Rao and Rao Circle. The new system has been implemented since Saturday. 1 April
Mangaluru: In continuation of the work to decongest city roads, the traffic police under the leadership of Mangaluru Police commissioner Kuldeep R Jain, in association with the Transport Department, shifted the City Bus Stand operating on the road between Hamilton Circle (State Bank Circle) and Rao and Rao Circle inside the State Bank Service Bus Terminal from Saturday, 1 April 2023. The road leading to the bus stand has been reserved only for buses, and the parallel road via Hamilton Circle will be used by other vehicles. This is an attempt to reduce the traffic congestion on that route.
While private as well as KSRTC buses were made to move out of the terminal from the first exit (near Rao and Rao Circle), private service buses and KSRTC buses bound to Udupi, Kateel, Shivamogga, Karkala, Uppinangady and Ballari were made to move out from the second exit of the service bus Terminal under the new arrangement. Thus, no city buses stopped between Hamilton Circle and Rao Rao Circle. Following the decongestion of this stretch, the police earmarked space for parking two-wheelers and cars, which visitors to the fish market made good use of.
Service buses bound for Udupi and other places have been using the State Bank Terminal for a long, while the city buses plied from the stretch between Hamilton Circle and Rao and Rao Circle. Following the introduction of the circular movement of vehicles on the Clock Tower – A.B. Shetty-Hamilton Circle – Rao and Rao Circle stretch, all the buses for a brief period plied from the State Bank Terminal. This terminal was recently redeveloped at the cost of Rs 4.2 crore by Mangaluru Smart City Limited and Mangaluru City Corporation.
Police Commissioner Kuldeep R. Jain and Transport Department officials met with city bus and service bus operators a couple of days ago, where the bus operators were asked to operate from the service bus terminal. “We pointed to the absence of adequate bus shelters and other basic facilities. Following an assurance by the police commissioner on meeting the requirements, we agreed to ply from the terminal,” said Jayasheela Adhyantaya, president, of Dakshina Kannada Bus Owners’ Association, to Team Mangalorean
On Saturday morning, the city police placed boards and made only buses enter the road in front of the office of the Police Commissioner that leads the service bus terminal. While service buses bound for Padubidri, Udupi, Kundapura, Shivamogga, Kateel, Nitte, Karkala, and Moodbidri were on Bays 1 to 4, the city buses were on Bays 5 to 8. The KSRTC buses and Contract Carriage Buses bound for Puttur, Uppinangady and other places have been provided space between the two exit gates.
Police Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime and Traffic) B.P. Dinesh Kumar speaking to the media said that 940 buses operate out of State Bank making as many as 3,680 trips per day. This includes 2,000 trips by 230 city buses, 1,200 trips by 480 private service buses and 300 trips by 183 KSRTC buses. “As not all buses can be accommodated in the service bus terminal, the available space has been divided to ensure a specific number of buses of all categories are accommodated at a given time. Action will be taken to complete the bus shelter and meet other basic facilities for commuters at the service bus terminal” said the police commissioner.
Buses, during the break in the trips, were seen parked on the stretch between Clock Tower Circle and A.B. Shetty Circle and on the Rosario School Road, causing inconveniences to other motorists and pedestrians. Not any more. Many citizens/commuters are happy with this move taken by the police commissioner which has eased out the congestion near State Bank, but the street vendors along that stretch are scratching their heads since they will be losing a bunch of their customers, after this new traffic change. Oh well!
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