The BMTC disconnect

The BMTC disconnect
Bengaluru,







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QUOTE UNQUOTE ‘ Jayanagar 9th Block does not have good bus connectivity. People have to go by autorickshaw till Jayanagar 4th Block and catch a bus from there. Jayanagar 9th Block has many institutions and needs more buses. — Abhishek Activist Areas like CV Ramannagar and Bhima Jyothi Nagar are not well connected. It is difficult for BMTC to provide buses to every corner of the city, but the corporation should consider using mini buses for the areas not connected. — Harishankar Resident, BJ Nagar BMTC buses do not ply to GM Palya and surrounding areas. When we ‘ lodged a complaint with the corporation, BMTC officials agreed to run buses to the area. Even after a month, nothing has been done. — Ashwath Narayan Resident, Indiranagar BMTC is spending crores of rupees on Volvos and other luxury buses but has reneged on its promise to provide basic connectivity to several parts of the city, finds Shrinivasa M.
Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation promised to acquire more buses to ensure that the city is well connected, but has failed to provide connectivity to important areas like Indiranagar, Koramangala, Jayanagar, JP Nagar, Majestic and KR Market.

Bangalore University is Asia’s largest academic institute in terms of student strength, but the corporation only has a single bus route (No. 235) between Majestic and the university’s Jnana Bharati campus. Thousands of commuters travel between Jnana Bharati and Majestic every day, but because of BMTC’s apathy, they have to catch a bus to Majestic either from Kengeri or KR Market or bear with an interminable wait at the university bus stand. Residents of the area and students have petitioned BMTC for more buses on the route but to no avail.

BMTC claims that its routes cover the entire city: It says 5,187 buses make 69,933 trips, covering 11.25 lakh km and carrying over 38 lakh people each day. But residents of various residential colonies say the number of routes it runs is inadequate.

Most complaints are from residents of new colonies and extensions. These include areas off Bannerghatta Road, in Bommadsandra, Madiwala, Puttenahalli and Nandini Layout Second Phase. According to Nadish Reddy, who lives in Nandini Layout Second Phase, people of the locality have to go to the Kanteerava Studio bus stand or Jogupalya to catch a BMTC bus to Majestic. “There are enough buses to Kengeri and Hebbal but not to Majestic. If BMTC extends the routes into Nandini Layout for few more kilometres, it will be a big relief,” he says.

Residents of layouts along Bannerghatta Road have similar complaints. According to Raghu, who lives off Bannerghatta Road, many new colonies and residential complexes have come up in the area but BMTC has not increased the frequency or number of buses to cope with the demand.

In Gaurav Nagar, people say there is no bus service at night, putting working women to severe inconvenience.

Another major problem that commuters face is lack of inter-connectivity between major commercial hubs. The demand for connectivity between Indiranagar and Koramangala is high but there is no direct bus between the two areas. There is no direct bus between Indiranagar and JP Nagar, either, though Indiranagar is connected to Malleswaram by route No. 7D and to Jayanagar by route No. 137. A BMTC official says there is no need for new routes.

“Indiranagar is well connected with Shivajinagar and Majestic and passengers do not face any hardships,” he claims.

BMTC says rapid expansion plans are being implemented by the corporation and the passengers’ grievances will be addressed soon.