K M Dayashankar
Regulate the auto-rickshaws by restricting them to rural areas and fix meters to each every auto
Mr Prabhakar introduced local buses by sanction buses under JNNURM from Cenral government
KARIMNAGAR, SEPTEMBER 03, 2024: Though, the Municipal Corporation of Karimnagar (MCK) is growing in leaps and bounds with the merger of adjoining villages and also merger of several other villages under the purview of Satavahana Urban Development Authority (SUDA), the Karimnagar albeit ‘Smart City’ does not have local city buses (public transport) for the benefit of commuters to travel in the city.
The city is growing with several new colonies, towering buildings, gated communities and fancy malls coming up. But it has emerged as the only Smart City without public transport system. Ironically, the MCK authorities have constructed bus shelters in various parts of the town as part of Smart City project in spite of no public transport system.
Taking advantage of the non-availability of public transport (local buses), the auto-rickshaws are fleecing the commuters by charging exorbitantly as there are no metres in any of the autos. Besides, the autos are blatantly flouting the norms by overloading the autos and occupying each and every road in the town by converting them as their ‘addas’ (auto stand) by erecting sign boards and even using the traffic stoppers and converting the road into ‘adda’ (as is evident in front of RTC bus station complex).
Minister for Transport and BC Welfare Ponnam Prabhakar when he was Karimnagar MP from 2009 to 2014 had sanctioned the local buses under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewable Mission (JNNURM) programme of the Union government. The then Congress Central government, following the initiatives taken by former Member of Parliament Ponnam Prabhakar, sanctioned 70 buses under JNNURM programme to the district in 2013. Out of the sanctioned buses, 50 were allocated to Karimnagar municipality and 20 for Ramagundam municipality. As part of the programme, it was decided to construct an exclusive city bus station at RTC workshop on Jagtial road in Karimnagar town.
But it also remained short-lived as the RTC authorities operated the JNNURM bus services for some period and stopped on the pretext that it was not viable for them and incurring losses. Now that the city has grown following the merger of several adjoining villages and proliferation of several higher ducation institutions and government offices on the outskirts of the town, the operation of City buses would be most viable.
Lok Satta Udyama Samstha Karimnagar town coordinator KS Narayana said that Minister Transport Ponnam Prabhakar, who first introduced city buses in Karimnagar town when he was MP, should take initiatives to reintroduce city buses and provide public transportation facilities to the people of the town and provide relief from auto menace. He said that the students and commuters were risking their lives by travelling in overloaded autorickshaws to the outskirts of the town and heavy charges by the autowallahs.
He suggested that the Transport Minister should take measures to allocate the newly sanctioned e-buses were operated as local city buses and benefit the commuters.
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