The bus services sanctioned to Shimoga under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) will commence by the last week of December, K.B. Prasanna Kumar, Shimoga MLA, has said.
Under the JNNURM, a sum of Rs. 23.55 crore was sanctioned for the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) to launch intra-city bus services in Shimoga.
The KSRTC plans to purchase 65 buses at a cost of Rs. 18.8 crore and create infrastructure for operating these buses, including construction of bus depots at a cost of Rs. 4.75 crore.
The Regional Transport Authority has granted permission to operate these buses and the KSRTC has also prepared the route map and schedules. Mr. Kumar said the KSRTC had also placed an order for supply of buses, which will be delivered in phases, commencing from the first week of November.
The district administration has identified 4.5 acres of land at Urgadur on the outskirts of Shimoga for the construction of a bus depot. The land belongs to the Department of Revenue and it will be handed over to the KSRTC soon.
The bus depot will have a diesel storage facility. As a high tension power lane passes through the vicinity, the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. officials had raised objection to the establishment of a diesel storage facility there. Accordingly, it has been planned to store diesel in a separate place close to the bus depot, he said.
