Reaching Udupi District Offices Complex is a problem for people

The Hindu

• A trip to the complex from Udupi costs Rs. 20 per person

 

Udupi, 16 April 2012: Though the District Offices Complex (DOC), bringing the Deputy Commissioner’s office and nearly 40 other government departments under a single building, was opened with much fanfare on December 25, 2011, reaching it is a problem for ordinary people.

 

When the complex, built at a cost of Rs. 30 crore at the End Point area, was inaugurated, it was thought that the people could get their work done under a single roof without having to run from pillar to post. But lack of city bus service has defeated the objective of building the complex. People have to go to Manipal (Tiger Circle) by bus and then hire an autorickshaw to the district offices.

 

The District Offices Complex in Manipal was inaugurated in December last.

 

City bus services were started soon after the inauguration of the complex. Even then, the people had to go to Manipal (Tiger Circle) by spending Rs. 5 and then board another bus and spend a similar amount to get to the office. Thus a visit to the office would cost a person Rs. 20. But this arrangement collapsed soon.

 

President of Udupi City Bus Operators’ Association Krishna Anchan told The Hindu on Friday that a private bus operator was asked to do 40 trips to the district offices complex. But the passenger flow was thin. The collection for the operator was just about Rs. 400 a day while the operational cost came to Rs. 2,500. “We have urged the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) to allow more bus operators to run extension services to the offices instead of a single operator,” he said.

 

The association had also told the RTA that instead of having a separate bus from Manipal (Tiger Circle) to the compelx, it was better to have city buses going from Udupi to Manipal extended to the complex. These city buses would drop passengers at Tiger Circle and then go to the complex.

 

Regional Transport Officer H.N. Ramesh said that at present there were only two morning bus trips and one evening trip to the district offices.

 

He would hold a meeting with the bus operators next week and ask them to divert some Udupi-Manipal (Tiger Circle) buses to the spot. “The charge per trip for a passenger could then be either Rs. 7 or Rs. 8,” he said.

 

Deputy Commissioner M.T. Reju said the more permits would be given to private buses to operate on the route soon. The new Regional Transport Office would start functioning near the complex in a couple of months, increasing the passenger flow to the area.

 

“After the Udupi KSRTC bus depot comes up, some KSRTC buses coming from Karkala, Kundapur, and Mangalore too can touch the district offices complex,” he said.