Kozhikode: The transport department will soon implement new guidelines for the inter-state private buses from the state.
Transport Minister A K Saseendran told Onmanorama that a draft was ready and the department was planning to implement it at the earliest - by Friday evening or Saturday.
The fresh guidelines have been prepared in the backdrop of the attack on passengers in Kallada bus recently.
“The passengers are currently booking through private booking centres. They are not directly connected to the bus owner, under the current circumstances. The contract is between the travel outlet and the owner. There are many difficulties in suddenly implementing a new rule in the point-to-point buses,” the minister said.
“If we implement extreme steps like limiting the boarding and destination points to just one each, passengers travelling on odd hours will suffer,” he pointed out.
To avoid that, the department is mulling four or five boarding points in the starting points as well as destination points.
For example, if a passenger wants to board the bus from Kazhakkoottam, let them be allowed. If we bring in tough rules, they all will have to board from a single point and alight at a same point, he said.
Bringing an overall change in the motor vehicles department guidelines would also take much time, he added.
According to the Licence of Agencies for Public Transport (LAPT), the booking agents should assure the safe boarding and alighting of the passengers and provide basic amenities including toilet and drinking water.
“In most of the agencies, there are no waiting rooms, instead they function from some petty shops,” Saseendran said.
So, bringing out fresh guidelines would streamline the activities and unify the facilities offered to the passengers.
Only agencies that follow these guidelines will be issued a licence. “Those who are currently holding the licence should be made to follow the same within a stipulated time,” the minister said.
Till now, starting a travel agency and getting a LAPT licence were simple procedures.
Anyone above the age of 18 could get the licence from the RTO.
The rule did not even mention about the educational qualifications of the applicant.
The Kallada row
Suresh Kallada, the owner of the Kallada bus group which is mired in a row after its crew assaulted passengers, appeared before the Thrikkakara police on Thursday. Though he initially refused to surrender citing health reasons, he had to report after the authorities tightened their noose around the bus management.
He reported to the Assistant Commissioner's office at the Thrikkakara police station.
Kallada was fined Rs 1.25 lakh for violating various legal norms.
Suresh has also been summoned by the Human Rights Commission on May 29.
Meanwhile, more video clippings of the assault have surfaced online. The CCTV footage shows Kallada employees brutally assaulting passengers near the Vytilla Junction.
The visuals reveal that the Kallada staff attacked them further even after the victims pleaded for mercy.
Passengers Ajaya Ghosh, Sachin and Ashkar were beaten up last Saturday night for questioning the delay in arranging an alternate vehicle after the bus they boarded broke down near Karuvatta near Haripad in Alappuzha district.
After the bus reached Vyttila in Kochi around 4am on Sunday, some bus employees from its Ernakulam base barged in and started thrashing the passengers, who questioned the bus crew in Haripad. The youth were later dragged out of the bus as they tried to retaliate.
The bus continued on its Bangalore trip without them. The incident came to light after Jacob Philip, another passenger who was witness to the scuffle on board, recorded it on his phone and shared it online.
Other reports against Kallada
Other reports from passengers have surfaced after the Kallada assault came to light last week. The case will be registered if it is reported at the local police station. There have been complaints that Kallada group regularly stores weapons in their buses. However, this claim can be proved only after further interrogation of the employees. Since, the statements given by them have been contradictory the police has requested custody of the accused.
The links of the owner Suresh Kallada with the untoward incident is still being examined. His phone calls before and after the incident is being examined. He was questioned from 4 pm to late night on Thursday.
KSRTC demand shoots up
Meanwhile, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses are getting more enquiries and bookings after the incident.
KSRTC executive director Sharaf Mohammed told Onmanorama that in a week, the number of enquiries to their stations are more due to the safety offered by government buses.
However, there is no new move to increase the schedule to Bengaluru from Kerala.
Currently there are 48 schedules for various KSRTC buses towards Bengaluru, which is the most sought after destination from the state.
Across the state, cases were registered against 259 buses on Thursday in the surprise checks by the motor vehicles department.
The MVD also seized 12 buses including four inter-state buses.