KANNUR: Gory stories political parties regularly script should not be the best way to know Kannur; there are remarkable side-stories that make the place more livable than many others. Kannur is the first ‘barrier-free district’ that created constructions in public places that are differently abled-friendly and the first district to implement Mission Mangrove project by documenting the entire mangrove vegetation; it has successfully implemented ‘Sasneham’ project that gave legal protection to abandoned parents, ‘Amritha Kalasam’ to renovate ponds and ‘Valsalyam’ to prevent child abuse. And some of these are replicated in other districts. It has launched a number of mobile applications for various public services.
Now the district is aiming to be something higher: to become the first travel friendly district in the state by making public transport system safe and comfortable. The major step towards this direction is the implementation of the unique numbering system for bus routes (UNSBR), which attributes a specific number for each route, for all private buses in the system by April first week. The project, launched in 2014 in the state for the first time, has already covered more than 60 per cent of the buses. “The district administration has issued orders to complete the numbering process by April first week, thus bringing all private buses in the district under the UNSBR system,” said Kannur District Collector Mir Mohammed Ali.
As part of the project, students have been given a Whatsapp number for registering their complaints even as the police stepped up conducting surprise visits at bus stops near schools. The unique mobile app ‘Speed Spot’, introduced last year, enables passengers to report over-speeding buses to the authorities. It works as a speed-breaker and helps the administration ensure traffic rules are being followed. “We have received more than 100 complaints in the first three months, which we are vigilantly following up,” Mr Ali said. The district administration expects it is going to work more efficiently in the coming days because of two reasons: more people would make use of the facility and register their complaints; and this possibility would work as a deterrent to erring employees.
Along with the UNSBR project, the district administration has also installed travel info boards in all bus stops in the district. The info boards have route number, immediately next bus stops, alternate roads and emergency contact numbers. “One of the reasons which prompted us to work for the ‘travel-friendly district’ tag is a letter sent by a student who shared the pain of misbehavior, harassment and unpleasantness that she faced during travel to the school,” Mr Ali said. “We cannot allow such things to happen in a civilised society. Going to school and back with my friends on a bus was one of the things I looked forward to the most when I was in school. The last thing you should have to worry about is harassment.” The high number of accidents is another reason which pushed the implementation of the project on a faster pace.
The district administration took up the project with the full support and co-operation of the bus operators, employees’ unions and workers. In the next phase, the district administration is planning to conduct special training programmes for the bus staff. Installation of GPS facility which would help the motor vehicles department to track the vehicle is another proposal in the pipeline.
The district administration and the department of management studies (DMS), Kannur University, are gearing up to improve the travel experience in the district with the Kannur international airport expected to open later this year. “We want more people to choose Kannur as the best travel-friendly district,” said DMS associate professor Dr U Faisal. “We have also introduced a unique number for airport buses (No 7), which would replicate in Thiruvanathapuram and Kozhikode and hope more districts would follow the same.”
Tourists, migrants say thank you
One of the flagship projects of Kannur district administration is the Unique Numbering System for Bus Routes (UNSBR). Launched in September, 2014, the project provides each bus a unique alphanumeric which corresponds to a bus route. A passenger can get on to any bus which bears that number to reach his destination, irrespective of the origin of the bus. Android mobile application ‘Kannur Bus’, launched for the project, helps the users identify the number of buses and their schedule and location. The project, conceived by the department of the management studies (DMS), Kannur University, was adopted by the district administration headed by P. Bala Kiran. It has covered 1,480 private and 225 KSRTC buses, which effectively makes 60 per cent of the total fleet.
Search results for buses along a particular route.
Mobile app which displays details on the bus based on the unique number
The bus numbering system and the app have been proved useful for senior citizens, migrant labourers and tourists from India and abroad. The Kannur University is at present incorporating the GPS system to the buses for improving the services. The project, which won praises from the then transport commissioner Rishiraj Singh, has also been adopted by Kozhikode and Thiruvanantha-puram districts. “It was after a group of German students who had come here as part of a student exchange programme complained about the difficulty in identifying the buses to the campus that we thought of a permanent solution,” said DMS associate professor Dr U Faisal, who was the backbone of the project. “Our students did a project on bus numbering and we submitted it to the then collector. He studied the report well and took initiative for its implementation.”
‘Speed spot’ to tackle over-speeding
Android mobile app ‘Speed Spot’, developed by the National Informatics Centre, is an important tool of the Kannur district administration to attain the ‘travel-friendly district’ tag. The app helps passengers find out whether the bus they are travelling is over-speeding. And should the bus breach the speed barrier, a passenger can immediately inform the authorities by recording the speed using the mobile app and clicking the bus ticket within a few seconds. The feedback from the app helps the authorities deal with the law breakers. The district administration is now preparing a density map based on the data identifying the areas in the district where the most number of overspeeding cases are reported.
Speed spot
The data will be shared with the motor vehicle department and the police to take action. The app also helps the authorities understand the buses which are plying without speed governors. “We track such vehicles and cancel their fitness certificate,” said district collector Mir Mohammed Ali. “We have already conducted inspections and found that the speed governors are tampered in many cases.” The app’s data bank has details of most buses and their owners. “We are yet to compile the data on old ones. Data thus collected will be incorporated in the Speed Spot app. Any complaints regarding over-speeding or misbehavior will be acted upon, depending on the gravity of the issue,” Mr Ali said.
Amongst our greatest feats, says Kannur University VC
Kannur University vice-chancellor Dr M.K Abdul Khader termed the Unique Numbering System for Bus Routes (UNSBR) as one of the remarkable feats of the varsity. “It’s a wonderful thing which even prompted the state government to request us to help other districts implement the project. It is a big achievement for the university which stands unique and different from other varsities,” he said.
Kannur, the youngest varsity in state, is a de-centralised university with campuses in three districts.
“Western universities are trying to increase the wealth of their respective countries by diverting academics for social good. Here we are also trying to achieve the same by helping society with our knowledge and expertise,” he added. Kannur is the first state varsity to set up a business incubation centre in Kerala.
