KOCHI: There seems to be no end in sight for the travel woes of Kochiites. A good number of Thiru-Kochi and private buses keep off the road on a regular basis causing difficulties to the public.The six A/C low-floor buses allotted to Kochi are yet to start service due to shortage of drivers. As a result, one third of the Thiru-Kochi buses are being cancelled every day. Employees working in various firms in the city, students and others coming to the city are at the receiving end. According to KSRTC authorities, they have sent the request to the employment exchange in Kochi for providing the drivers. But there has not been any reply from the officials so far. “After the present government assumed power we have taken measures to expedite the process of recruiting drivers. As the recruitment through PSC would take time, we decided to make the recruitment on a temporary basis. We expect that the shortage of drivers can be solved without much delay,” Transport Minister V S Sivakumar said. The KSRTC requires at least 100 drivers to ensure that the services operated in the district are not disrupted. Though the Motor Vehicles Department warns that strict action will be taken against the private bus operators who cut short trips, the operators run the services according to their whims and fancies. The main reason raised by the bus owners is that the service is not profitable. They cite bad condition of roads as another reason. “Most of the bus operators are unable to conduct the services due to shortage of staff." "When there is rain, we are forced to cut short the trips due traffic snarls,” M B Sathyan, secretary, Private Bus Owners Association said.
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