PONDA: In an unusual incident, a KTC bus plying from Goa to Belgaum was forced to make a halt at the KTC bus stand Ponda for over an hour after six reserved seats were found to be occupied by other passengers.
Six passengers (students), who were to board the Belgaum-bound KTC bus (Margao-Ponda-Belgaum) from Ponda KTC bus stand, had booked the seats at the KTC outlet at Ponda a day before.
However, the six students were taken by surprise to see their seats occupied when they boarded the KTC bus at the KTC bus stand, Ponda, on Monday at about 3.50 pm.
The bus conductor claimed that he was not aware of the seat reservation at Ponda and that the seats were full at Margao bus stand. As the six passengers had already paid the ticket fare, the conductor refused to ask the passengers to travel standing.
“This is not acceptable. How can the students go standing when they had already reserved tickets a day ahead of the journey? Authorities must rectify its mistakes so that passengers are not made to suffer,” said Sharmila Kulkarni, a parent from Margao.
Later, two students were refunded the ticket money, while the other four were accommodated on another KTC bus.
