Bengaluru bus breakdown: CM Siddharamaiah becomes a common man
- CM Siddharamaiah, who was on an inspection tour of rain-affected areas in Bengaluru had to cut it short after the BMTC Volvo bus he was travelling in broke down midway
- The incident gave the Chief Minister a firsthand experience of the various problems commuters face everyday
- Transport minister HM Revanna has sought a report from BMTC and said that based on the report, action would be taken against the errant staffers
FollowFor once, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddharamaiah suffered the same fate a common Bengalurean commuter does while using public transport in the city.
CM Siddharamaiah, who was on an inspection tour of rain-affected areas in the city on Wednesday, September 13, had to cut it short after the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) Volvo bus he was travelling in broke down midway.
The bus which was also carrying cabinet ministers, bureaucrats and other officials broke down at Dooravani Nagar on Ramamurthy Nagar Main Road, east Bengaluru. Officials soon arranged another bus for the chief minister.
This forced the chief minister to skip inspection of east Bengaluru's Kalkere. Officials said he had to rush to another programme in Kadugodi near Whitefield, reported the Times of India.
The incident gave the Chief Minister a firsthand experience of the various problems commuters face everyday. Transport minister HM Revanna has sought a report from BMTC. Revanna said that based on the report, action would be taken against the errant staffers.
Revanna said that BMTC have started inducting nearly 3,000 new buses and old buses will be scrapped in a phased manner.
On Wednesday, Siddaramaiah along with his cabinet members were travelling in BMTC's `Bangaluru Darshini' bus. However, the AC in the bus was dysfunctional, forcing the chief minister to take another bus from Shantinagar. But the second bus too developed a technical snag when it reached Ramamurthynagar, forcing the chief minister to travel in his car, reported TOI.
However, public transport users continued to be hassled by faulty buses. According to a Bangalore Mirror report, seven buses break down on an average everyday in Bengaluru. Over 400 buses have broken down this year until May.
Even on Friday, September 15, there were reports of three buses breaking down at Hosur elevated flyover, Bommanahalli and on ITPL Road.
BMTC bus brakedown at AECS Layout on ITPL road. Traffic slightly affected. pic.twitter.com/HBn5THP8QY
— BTP (@blrcitytraffic) September 15, 2017
ವಾಹನ ಕೆಟ್ಟು ನಿಂತಿರುವುದರಿಂದ ಹೊಸೂರು ರಸ್ತೆ ಎಲಿವೇಟೆಡ್ ಪ್ಲ್ಯೆ ಓಒರ್ ಮೆಲೆ ಸಂಚಾರ ನಿಧಾನಗತಿಯಲ್ಲಿರುತ್ತದೆ... pic.twitter.com/XDlGLfA4H9
— @ecitytrafficps (@Electroniccity7) September 15, 2017
Vehicle breakdown on elevated flyover near bommanahally. Congestion expected towards silkboard from Ecity @blrcitytraffic pic.twitter.com/24Sio8wZ1c
— Chowdappa RV (@AcpSe) September 14, 2017
Although the transport minister had promised an overhaul of the system, it was only after the breakdown of CM Siddharamaiah’s bus and public ridicule of the incident that opened the eyes of the authorities.
