JOIN USDid the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) miss out on serving commuters when Bangalore Metro Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses were off roads on Monday?
Metro passengers, who usually take the BMTC’s feeder service for first- and last-mile connectivity, had no other option but to depend on private cabs and auto-rickshaws by paying extra.
In the absence of connectivity to the Green Line (Nagasandra to Sampige Road) from the Kempegowda Metro station, a feeder bus service was badly needed, especially at Majestic, Mysuru Road, SV Road and Baiyappanahalli stations. No alternative arrangements, however, were made for passengers as BMTC buses remained off roads.
Ultimately, auto-rickshaws and private cabs were the only mode of commute for passengers. “Usually I commute by the feeder bus which costs Rs 12 from Majestic to Mantri square. Today, I had no other option but to take a shared auto which charged Rs 30 each for three of us. Like me, there were many passengers who had no other option but to depend on cabs and autos,” said Charitha V S, a resident of Malleswaram who works in Indiranagar.
Early this month, the BMTC started the feeder service by deploying 63 buses at 11 Metro stations and making 790 trips on average per day. The facility helps at least 15,000 passengers of different localities every day. On Monday, the absence of feeder service was evident as auto-rickshaws and cabs crowded outside Metro stations.
Urban mobility analyst Sanjeev V Dyamannavar said the BMRCL could have taken the initiative of deploying private buses to attract commuters. “When companies can rope in private buses for their employees, why can’t the BMRCL do so for its passengers during such crises? It would have been of great help to those who commuted early in the morning,” he said.
He felt there was little co-ordination among government agencies, including the railways. When the BMRCL can run Metro trains up to 1 am during IPL matches, why not now, he asked. “Many people arrive in Bengaluru by train and bus early in the morning. The BMRCL could have run the service from 5 am to midnight. This would have helped at least 200 people when BMTC buses are off roads,” he said. “Two hundred is not a small number.”
The South Western Railway too failed to rise to the occasion, he said. It announced additional stoppages, special trains and extension of trains only on Monday morning. Dyamannavar felt that better co-ordination would have brought some relief to the stranded passengers in the city and its outskirts.
BMRCL Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola maintained that the corporation could focus only on its operations and providing better facilities. Meanwhile, the traffic police registered 1,972 cases against auto-rickshaw drivers for various violations and seized 158 vehicles.