Stakeholders who are critical of the final notification that was issued with regard to the city entry of buses from Goshree islands must wait till the Ernakulam RTO takes a call on the matter, K.N. Unnikrishnan, Vypeen MLA, said on Saturday.
Many of them are demanding withdrawal of the notification, even though the government can initiate steps to amend its provisions under the Motor Vehicles Act, in case there is no let-up in the commuting hassles of the islanders. This gives rise to the suspicion that the islanders are being misled by ‘vested interests’, he said in a press release.
The notification/scheme on operating KSRTC buses and the existing fleet of private buses from the isles was issued to overcome problems pertaining to nationalised corridors such as High Court Junction-Kadavanthra-Vyttila and High Court Junction-Kaloor-Palarivattom stretches. It is thus a partly nationalised scheme since courts have held that nationalised schemes pertaining to private buses alone is illegal. This permits extension of city permit buses to Goshree isles and the conditional city extension of bus services from the isles.
However, there are curbs on operating more than 25 km through nationalised routes. This is to prevent buses from the isles seeking altering of their permits in order to limit their operations on lucrative city routes alone.
Most KSRTC buses that operate from the Ernakulam Boat Jetty depot to areas such as North Paravur and Kodungallor are routed through Container Road and Koonammavu (and hence do not benefit commuters from the Vypeen area). Incidentally, those who find fault with the notification are not seeking KSRTC services, said the release from Mr. Unnikrishnan.
