Mangaluru: KSRTC buses from the Mangaluru depot will resume services on the Mangaluru-Talapady route from Friday.

With educational institutions in Dakshina Kannada commencing in-person classes for grades VI to X and PU, city buses between Talapady and Mangaluru were witnessing a huge rush during peak hours.

The various organisations, appealed to the chief minister of Karnataka and Dakshina Kannada district administration to resume KSRTC bus services between the Kerala border in Talapady and Mangaluru city.

Government buses from Kerala are operating between Kasaragod and Talapady. However, KSRTC buses from Mangaluru division had stopped service due to the surge in Covid-19 cases in Kasaragod district and other parts of Kerala. Due to lack of sufficient number of buses, students and daily commuters from Kasaragod were made to travel in packed city buses from Talapady to Manglauru. Considering the requests of inter-state daily commuters and students from Kasaragod district, the Dakshina Kannada district administration has directed KSRTC Mangaluru division to resume services between Mangaluru and Talapady.

KSRTC buses from Karnataka and Kerala were operating between Mangaluru and Kasaragod with a three minutes frequency before the pandemic. After the first lockdown, bus services on the route were suspended. Later, in June and July this year, KSRTC buses from Mangaluru depot were operating between Mangaluru and Talapady. However, since Covid-19 continued in Kerala, the services on the stretch were also suspended again, and only city buses were operating between Mangaluru and Talapady. Students and daily commuters from Kerala are now allowed with RT-PCR negative reports, and they should repeat the tests once in seven days.