Udupi,(The Hindu): Pramod Madhwaraj, Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Empowerment and Sports, said here on Tuesday that the State government would go on appeal against the High Court of Karnataka order cancelling permits of 55 low-floor Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses, plying on the city and rural roads in the district.

He said that the State government had started low-floor KSRTC buses in those areas in the district where there were no bus facilities. This was done for the sake of the people, especially the students and senior citizens. “We introduced low-floor KSRTC buses without bowing to any lobbying by private bus operators,” he said. Mr. Madhwaraj said that it was extremely unfortunate that the private operators went to the High Court in the matter. “The private bus operators have done this for their own selfish reasons. Their move will put lakhs of passengers into inconvenience. They have not thought about the passengers,” he said.

He said he had already spoken to Ramalinga Reddy, Transport Minister, and also to the Chairman and the Managing Director of KSRTC about this.

On Monday, a delegation of the Canara Bus Operators Association submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner Priyanka Marty Francis and Regional Transport Officer Gurumuthy Kulkarni here and urged them to implement the order.

Operators’ stand

Meanwhile, in a press release issued here on Tuesday, K. Rajavarma Ballal, president of the association, said that Mr. Madhwaraj’s comments on the association approaching the court were unfortunate.

A delegation of the association had met Mr. Madhwaraj several times and urged him to run government buses in those places where there was no bus facility.

This would help both passengers and also ensure the survival of private operators. But the authorities were operating only a couple of government buses in places without bus service, while the rest of the government buses were being run in places where bus facilities were already available. The intention behind this was unclear.

“For instance, there is a private bus from Kundapur to Udupi and Karkala every five to 10 minutes. What is the point in running government buses on the same route, that too with identical timings?,” he said.