VIJAYAPURA: A new mother with a 45-day-old baby in her arms who was waiting for a bus to go back home with her husband and mother on Saturday night received a surprise when the Karnataka bus corporation operated a special service from Muddebihal to Narayanapur in Hunasagi taluk in — a distance of about 30km — in Vijayapura district just before midnight.
Mahabaleshwar Gaded, a green activist from Muddebihal, told TOI the Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC), which operates in Hyderabad-Karnataka region, did not charge for the bus ride in which seven others also travelled.
Gaded said he saw a family of three with a small baby waiting at the bus stand for more than an hour.
When he enquired, the woman, Shankramma Nalatwad, said they missed the 8.30pm bus and were waiting for the Solapur-Raichur service expected to arrive by 11pm.
Since the Solapur-Raichur bus has been cancelled ever since the second wave of Covid-19 started, Gaded told the family that there was no bus until the next morning and invited them home.
“Since I was an absolute stranger to them, they did not accept my offer. At that time, I called Rahul Y Honasure, Muddebihal depot manager of KKRTC, if he could arrange a special ride for the family. He immediately instructed the controller, Ninganna Talwar, to arrange a bus for the stranded family and seven others,” he said.
Sources said the woman had taken her baby to a hospital and reached Muddebihal late.
A 9.30pm bus that plies between Muddebihal and Narayanpur was cancelled, adding to the commuting crisis.
