Following the suspension of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) buses to Karnataka, several commuters in Pune are being forced to bear the brunt. While some have postponed their visits, others have had to pay extra and travel by private vehicles.
Swami Basalinga, a native of Raichur in Karnataka, speaking to The Free Press Journal, said, "I work at Bhosari MIDC as a welder in a company. I was planning to go to my village this week. However, I have postponed my visit as the MSRTC buses have been suspended."
Prakash Jadhav, a software engineer from Sangvi, stated that he had booked a ticket to Belagavi for a family function. "However, now I am left with no option but to take a private cab, which is expensive," he added.
#WATCH | Pune: Shiv Sena (UBT) workers staged a protest and blackened the buses with Karnataka number plates in the Swargate area of Pune city after a Marathi-speaking bus driver was assaulted in Belagavi, for allegedly not speaking in Kannada. (22.02) pic.twitter.com/SJ3s0s42p5
— ANI (@ANI) February 22, 2025
Anita Patil, a college student, highlighted, "I used to travel to Bengaluru every month for my studies. Now with the suspension of buses, I am forced to rely on private vehicles. The situation is frustrating as they are charging double the usual rate."
Sandeep Chaini, a travel agent from Yash Travels, revealed that the number of trips by private vehicles to Karnataka has increased. "However, we are not crossing the Karnataka border due to fear of a mob attack as our number plate is MH12. We are just dropping the passengers till Kolhapur, Nippani and Bijapur," he added.
Why have the buses been suspended?
Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik on Saturday ordered the suspension of the state transport buses to Karnataka after an MSRTC bus was attacked there. He said the MSRTC bus, which was travelling from Bengaluru to Mumbai, was attacked in Chitradurga around 9.10pm on Friday by pro-Kannada activists. They also blackened the face of driver Bhaskar Jadhav and assaulted him, the minister said. "Bus services to Karnataka won't be resumed unless the Karnataka government makes its stand clear on the issue," he added.
On the same day, a conductor of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), identified as Mahadevappa Mallappa Hukkeri, was allegedly attacked by a group for not responding to a passenger in Marathi at Marihal in Belagavi district. According to his complaint, a young girl asked for a ticket in Marathi, and when he requested her to speak in Kannada, she and her male companion confronted him. A larger group later intercepted the bus and physically assaulted him. Police arrested four individuals involved in the attack. However, the case took a new turn when the girl filed a counter-complaint, accusing the conductor of inappropriate behaviour. He was subsequently booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act. Hukkeri, currently recovering at Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences, denied the allegations, stating he believes the truth will come out.
Authorities speak
Promod Nehul, Pune Divisional Collector at MSRTC, said, "The MSRTC buses going to Karnataka have been halted temporarily. There are ten buses in the MSRTC fleet that run from Pune to Karnataka directly. However, Kolhapur is the last stop for them now. Due to tension among the state transport officials, few buses at Karnataka borders are operational in coordination with Karnataka state transport officials, Maharashtra state transport officers and the Border Security Force."
Speaking about the interruption of passenger transport and loss, Nehul highlighted, "Approximately 100 to 150 passengers were travelling daily from Pune to Karnataka. However, they are forced to opt for another mode of transport medium due to disruption of the bus services."
Meanwhile, Sanjay More, Pune city president, Shiv Sena (UBT), said this issue between Maharashtra and Karnataka has long been ignored by the central government. "The people of Maharashtra are being harassed regularly. The Karnataka government is supporting the defaulters. This kind of assault on MSRTC drivers has been done earlier also. Our question is simple: why does it happen again and again?"
The Shiv Sena (UBT) workers on Sunday staged a protest in Swargate and blackened the buses with Karnataka number plates. On this, More said, "This time we have only painted the buses with black colour but if further cases of harassment occur over language or anything else, Karnataka could face vandalism of their state transport buses."