Parisara Vahini or publicity vehicles?

Parisara Vahini or publicity vehicles?
Vijay Times

THE Bangalore Metropolitan T ransport Corporation (BMTC) has come in for sharp criticism from the public yet again. This time, it is for allowing companies to advertise on the side glass panes found just above the windows in ’Parisara V ahini’ City buses.

The public feels that the BMTC buses, which are meant for public service, have now become publicity vehicles , thanks to the BMTC’s move.

Generally , the outer portions of a bus are used for advertising. However , in the case of ’Parisara V ahini’ buses, the BMTC authorities have allowed companies to display their advertisements even on these glass panes.

"The side glass panes are meant to provide natural light. They also help commuters who are standing spot their stops on time. Standing commuters enjoy the scenic beauty of the City by looking through these panes," Ramesh, a BMTC bus conductor , said.

"It is unfortunate that our officials are defacing the buses by permitting advertisements on them. BMTC buses look like private vehicles when they have a lot of advertisements on them. The side glass panes over the windows in ’Parisara V ahini’ buses have advertisements on them. This is defeating the purpose of the glass panes," claimed Bhaskar , another bus conductor .

"Sometimes, commuters remove these advertisements as they cause a lot of inconvenience. I can’t request my superiors to remove these advertisements. The public should take the initiative and complain," he added.

Ramesh, a bank employee who regularly commutes by bus, said : "Commuters who are seated can get to know whether their destinations have come or not by looking through the windows. However , for those standing, this becomes difficult because of advertisements on those glass panes. During peak hours, when the bus is teeming with crowd, one can’t hear the conductors. Many a time, I have got off the bus at the wrong stop. " Reena, another commuter , said : "W e are forced to bend and peep through the windows to find out if our stops have come as even the conductors don’t call out the names of stops sometimes. The advertisements pasted on the glass panes must be removed."

BMTC SPEAK

T alking to B BV VT T , BMTC Chief T raffic Manager (Commercial) Vishwanath said : "Mobi Apps, a Global Positioning System (GPS) service provider , has been given the contract for displaying advertisements on the side glass panes over the windows of ’Parisara V ahini’ buses for a period of five years." "Mobi Apps is providing GPS service to 700 BMTC ’Parisara V ahini’ buses free of cost. Hence, they have been given the contract to display advertisements on these buses. At present, they have been displaying advertisements on 600 such buses. W e are yet to provide them the remaining 100 buses," he informed.

On the inconvenience caused to commuters, Vishwanath said that they hadn’t received any complaints from the public till date."On the contrary , some of the commuters have actually welcomed such advertisements being displayed as they protect them from bright sunlight," he claimed.