Neshwin Almeida
MARGAO: Tenny Viegas from Santa Cruz sells sausage bread at Margao New market but has to shut shop at 8pm to rush to KTC Bus Stand Margao. Tenny met with an accident two years ago commuting on his motorbike from Margao to Panjim and now depends solely on the KTC bus service.
“I could do business much later and sell many more sausage breads to families and individuals who not just snack on the Goan sausages but eat at my kiosk keeping dinner in mind but the last bus is my occupation hazard,” explains Tenny.
Similar to Tenny’s plight is that of Prutha Salelkar who works as an accountant at a handicrafts shop attached to a hotel in Colva. The hotel drops her to KTC Margao but beyond that she has to look after her own commute. Prutha says she qualifies for overtime if she can pull on till 9pm but the KTC bus service doesn’t let that happen.
Salcete has small guesthouses and rooms that are let out to tourists who yearn to get a feel of the nightlife in Panjim. But they are left to the mercy of the expensive taxis to take them to Panjim or Baga after spending time at Benaulim or Sernabatim enjoying the sunset.
But KTC has its rigid ways and has no spare buses to take care of break downs, congestion on the highway or accidents involving its buses and not to forget the filthy buses with broken first aid boxes and leaking roofs.
Sanjay Ghate, Deputy General Manager of KTC explains that there are few takers for the last shuttle and economically it is not viable to run a 52-seater bus with just eight commuters.
“Commuters on the shuttle service post lunch drops to 40 percent and the numbers are a meagre trickle by evening and hence it’s not viable. Same with the women exclusive shuttle services which have been discontinued from Margao to Panjim. The number of takers is too small to compensate for the cost of diesel and wear and tear and the KTC driver who works overtime, hence
we’ve made the last shuttle at 8 pm and withdrawn the women exclusive shuttle all together,” asserted Ghate.
But that doesn’t seem to be a viable argument according to Antara Chande who works as a chartered accountant in Margao and hoped a quality bus service would allow her to take a nice nap while she’s driven home.
“So many accidents happen in the later hours of the evening because a tired driver dozes off while riding or driving or so many accidents because of the incessant monsoons in Goa and the darkness of our highways adds to the woes. The thing is all this can be avoided with shuttle services till late. And the minute the shuttle is available till late, people will work later, their deadlines to head to North Goa can be stretched but the KTC services pushes us to lower our work time and ride and drive through our fatigue,” explains Antara.
Similarly, Jerena from Taleigao who comes to sell marigolds at a temple in Quepem and commutes on the shuttle explains to us that they have to and are forced to wind up their business early because of the lack of shuttle services at night despite the late night aarti thrice a week at the temple but the government bus service doesn’t give her the freedom to work late.
Ranjan Coelho, a daily commuter on the last bus, who actually has a bike to rush from Carmona to Margao to make it home to San Tome, Panjim believes that if the KTC services were great at the peak hours, they could dissuade more people to use private cars and bikes and increasingly use the KTC shuttle service.
The complaint is from many who want to exploit the work opportunities at the various starred hotels, restaurants, shacks, tourism bustling coastline and other places in Margao while they want to continue coming home late for their daily undo and curry. But KTC doesn’t seem to think on the same lines.
