Bus shortage due to poll duty hits students hard

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: College-going students, workers and the general public on Tuesday alleged that they had to wait for hours to get a bus as “it didn’t show up on time” since the Election Commission has booked a number of buses for polling day. The BMTC operates around 6,767 buses in the city. Many passengers including women and children suffered due to the shortage of bus services.

“Even after waiting for an hour no bus showed up. Most of our college students depend on public transport, and we are severely affected by the shortage,” said Samiksha, a student of MES College. Another person who works at a medical shop near Yesvantpur said he waited “very long” before he got a bus. It was the same situation in most parts of the city. “I dialled my colleague to check if she had reached the shop and to my surprise it was the same case with her. She too was waiting endlessly for her bus.”

Officials from the BMTC said nearly 27 per cent of the buses were booked in advance for election duty, but denied a shortage of the facility. The shortage of buses led many public to resort to online cab services. A BMTC bus driver, in contradiction to the official’s statement, said the shortage would be sorted out.