Passengers rush to catch a Vypeen-bound bus at Hight Court Junction in Kochi on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: THULASI KAKKAT
With the Transport department remaining non-committal on the city entry of private buses from Goshree islands despite the expiry of the revised deadline of November 1, Federation of Residents Associations Apex Council in Goshree Islands (FRAG) has decided to resume its agitation from Tuesday.
This will be followed by agitations every day until the department agree to the city extension of buses from the isles. “We waited patiently ever since the trio of Goshree bridges were commissioned in 2004. Not any more, since numerous deadlines for the extension are over. Transport Minister Antony Raju had assured in February that buses from the isles would be permitted into the city after three months, in May. But not a single private bus has been given permission to travel beyond High Court Junction,” said Anil Plavians, general secretary, FRAG.
As a first step, public meetings will be held in each of the six panchayats in the Goshree isles with the help of the respective residents’ associations to apprise islanders of the repeated assurances given by the State government and the Transport department following protests by FRAG. Poster campaigns too will be organised, apart from erecting display boards at landmarks. All this will begin with a meeting at Goshree Junction at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. Similar events will be held near Njarakkal market, Cherai Devaswom Nada, Perumpilly, and Kuzhipilly.
Expressing angst at the department dilly-dallying in permitting city entry of buses from the isles even after the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC) conducted a passenger survey and suggested routes to operate the buses, Mr. Plavians said that repeated meetings with the Transport Minister and other government functionaries had yielded no results. The unpardonable delay has resulted in people having to opt for loan to purchase two- and four-wheelers to commute to the city and back, while others have to depend on autos, he added.
According to a study, each family would have saved over ₹1.50 lakh if buses were permitted to enter the city on routes where there was demand. This would in turn have improved patronage for the Kochi metro too. On their part, the government and the Goshree Islands Development Authority (GIDA) have done little to construct a bridge parallel to the first Goshree bridge, despite the worsening congestion, he said.
Mayor M. Anilkumar said he had welcomed the proposal to permit city entry of buses and had conveyed it to the Transport department and NATPAC. Buses operating to the integrated bus stand proposed at Karikkamuri would further help commuters from the isles, he added.
Sources in the Motor Vehicles department said they had not been issued any direction regarding the city entry of buses.