Confusion continues

KOCHI: Confusion is still prevailing over the KSRTC buses which pass through the Vyttilla Mobility Hub during night. The primary confusion is over the route that the buses should take while proceeding north from the KSRTC’s Ernakulam main depot. According to the directives given to the drivers, the KSRTC buses coming from the  Alappuzha side  and proceeding to the Thrissur side will not touch Kacherippady and Kaloor, two of the major centres in the city. Hundreds of passengers are commuting on this route during night. These passengers are now facing hardships to reach Kaloor. Ajay Kumar, state marketing chief of a private firm in Kochi, had a bitter experience on Monday night when he was on his way to his flat in Kaloor from Thiruvananthapuram. He came by a KSRTC Super Deluxe bus bound for Kozhikode. He had taken a ticket up to Chalakkudy to alight at Kaloor. But he was dropped at the main KSRTC stand and then he was told that he would get bus to Kaloor from the main depot. He waited for almost two hours for a bus to Kaloor. On enquiries with the bus drivers, he was told that all buses proceeding north were taking the Mobility Hub-Bypass route during night. Later he called a friend who picked up him from the stand on his motor bike.“I thought that the bus would take the Kaloor route to cross the city. But after reaching main stand, the conductor told me that the bus was taking the Bypass route, skipping the Kaloor route. I was forced to get down at the Ernakulam Main Stand even after taking a ticket to Kaloor,” Ajay Kumar said. The problem is far worse in the case of the passengers coming from the Thrissur side. These buses take the Edappally Bypass route to reach the Mobility Hub. The passengers bound for Kaloor have to get down at Edappally and they are being forced to wait for hours as the frequency of the buses via Kaloor is abysmally low during night. The KSRTC officials said that the problem would be sorted out soon. “There are only 32 up and down services which are being diverted through the Mobility Hub. The other services are running through the existing routes. The shortage of  32 services causes long gaps. The problem will be sorted out soon,”  District Transport Officer (DTO) Satheesh Kumar said. The route change is puzzling for the KSRTC drivers also. Most of them are still unaware of the route that they should take. But even amidst the confusion, the KSRTC authorities are tightening their approach towards the drivers who are avoiding mobility hub. “We will not tolerate skipping of the Mobility Hub by the KSRTC buses. The drivers will face legal action if they deliberately avoid the Hub,” the  DTO said.