Ballari: The country gaining Independence hasn’t meant much to these villagers, who have been waiting for a bus service for over 69 years. But now finally, the people of Cherakunte in Ballari taluk are getting ready to welcome their first KSRTC red bus, which could see them emerge from an isolation of decades.
“We are told the government will run a new bus to our village shortly,” said a happy college student, Yarriswamy from the village. Although just 8 km away from the district headquarters of Ballari, the people here are forced to travel 15 km to reach it from a bus stop 4 km from their village. Like Cherakunte, Ninganahalli in Khanahosahalli hobli, Kudligi taluk is also getting ready to welcome its first red bus service.
“We often carry pregnant women and patients requiring emergency care on motor-bikes to hospitals. Our two-wheelers serve as ambulances as we haven’t had a bus service since Independence here,” says villager, Boranna.
Kere Thanda, a tiny Lambani settlement covered by the Kamalapura Town Panchayat is just 5km away from the world heritage site of Hampi, but it too has no access to public transport. Its travails could soon end as well with a red bus expected to trundle into the village shortly.
These are only a few of the many villages in Hyderabad-Karnataka which have no access to public transport in the absence of motorable roads. The Hyderabad-Karnataka Region Development Board (HKRDB) has now identified 103 villages in six districts to improve road connectivity and run buses of the North Eastern Karnataka State Road Transportation Corporation to them.
Official sources said the board had decided to improve road connectivity to these 103 villages at an estimated cost of Rs 80 crore and purchase 76 new buses for the NEKSRTC to extend its services to them.
“The decision has been taken under the 2015-17 macro scheme of the board to boost the educational and economic opportunities of the two lakh people living in these villages,” said medical education minister and HKRDB chairman, Sharana Prakash Patil.
