Fares of KSRTC Volvo services between Mangaluru-Bhatkal hiked
Mangaluru: The Karnataka State Road Transport Service (KSRTC) has hiked the price of tickets for its Volvo shuttle services between Mangaluru – Bhatkal to compensate with the toll gates fares after the Shiroor toll gate began operating.
The fares have been hiked to Rs. 261 from Rs. 250 for a journey between Mangaluru to Bhatkal and vice-versa.
Speaking to Vartha Bharati, a KSRTC official from Mangaluru division confirmed the news and added that the government had hiked the fares to compensate the toll charges of new toll gate that has started operating in Shiroor.
Regular commuters of the bus services have expressed their dissent over the move and has called on authorities to withdraw the hike in fares.
The state government had deployed the Airavat Volvo Buses for the services in March 2017 with the fares for complete journey costing Rs. 225. However taking into consideration the good response to the services and addition of more buses to the fleet, the prices were slashed to Rs. 200 in only a couple of weeks.
The fares were then once again hiked to Rs. 250 in 2018 before hiking it to Rs. 261 earlier last week. The Shiroor toll gate also started operating last week.
The earlier price hike to Rs. 250 had also received criticism by the commuters and several organisations had submitted memorandum to the state government and the KSRTC demanding withdrawal of the hike but both the government and the KSRTC had sustained with the increased fares.
On the other hand, the private bus services, plying on the same route have not made any changes to the pricing of the tickets. The journey between Bhatkal to Mangalore and vice-versa costs Rs. 140 on the private buses. But people prefering comfort and flexibility of timings opts for Volvo services of the KSRTC.
A WhatsApp message however, being circulated on social media platforms has been urging people to stage protest against the hike in fares by not opting for these government run volvo services and to opt for private buses until the hike is withdrawn.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
