Civil society groups seek transportation fund in letter to Karnataka CM

Bengaluru: Ahead of the Karnataka budget presentation on Friday, civil society groups in the city submitted a list of public transport demands to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday.

This includes a demand for dedicated funds to improve the bus transportation infrastructure and promote sustainable transportation to aid decongestion in the city.

While acknowledging the positive impact of the Shakti scheme in the state, Greenpeace India and the Slum Dwellers Federation noted that the current fleet of BMTC buses was inadequate to serve lakhs of commuters every day.

Besides demanding the CM to increase the bus fleet size by including 4,000 in this financial year to make buses more reliable and accessible, they also asked for the scheme to be extended to cover non-local women, senior citizens, people with disabilities, transgender people, and students.

They also insist the 10 bus lanes proposed by the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) be implemented by the transport department, besides resuming the bus lane on the Outer Ring Road.