Karnataka-Maharashtra Bus Operations Partially Resume After Four-Day Suspension

KSRTC Sarige bus. Representative image of Mangaluru Karkala Bus
Representative Image

Interstate public transportation between Karnataka and Maharashtra began partial restoration on Wednesday after being completely suspended for nearly five days.

The service disruption, which began last Friday, followed an incident at Balekundri, Belagavi where a bus conductor was allegedly assaulted over a language-related dispute, compounded by subsequent POCSO charges filed against the conductor.

The suspension created significant hardship for thousands of daily commuters who depend on the more than 500 buses that normally operate in each direction between the two states.

Taking advantage of the situation, private transportation providers substantially increased their fares during the service gap. A breakthrough came on Tuesday when district officials from both states conducted a virtual meeting to address the situation.

Belagavi District Commissioner Mohammad Roshan and Superintendent of Police Bhimashankar Guled conferred with Kolhapur District Commissioner Amol Yedge to coordinate the resumption of services with enhanced security measures.

“We initiated limited service to Maharashtra destinations Wednesday morning and gradually increased departures throughout the day,” said Shashidhar Maridevaramath, divisional controller for North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) in Chikodi.

“We anticipate returning to normal operations by Thursday, when Maharashtra buses are also expected to resume service to Belagavi.”

From the Maharashtra side, MSRTC (Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation) divisional controller for Kolhapur, Santosh Bogare, confirmed: “MSRTC has restarted partial operations to Nipani and Sankeshwar after the four-day interruption. We’ve restored approximately 150 of our normal 404 daily trips to Karnataka and expect to resume Belagavi routes by Thursday.”

The resumption of these vital interstate transportation links brings welcome relief to commuters who had been facing both logistical challenges and inflated travel costs since the suspension began.