Margao: The Kadamba Transport Corporation (KTC) interstate bus services were disrupted on Friday, leaving several passengers stranded at Margao bus terminuses even as travel demand rose during the peak Chaturthi season.
According to sources, a shortage of drivers and conductors forced the state transport corporation to cancel regular services on some crucial routes. Sources said that while the corporation had tried to mitigate the disruption, some routes had to be cancelled over the last couple of days due to the Ganesh festivities. The services are likely to improve in the days to come, sources said.
The disruption has come despite KTC management earlier assuring that ongoing recruitment drives would resolve the staff deficit before the festival.
The situation has also been affected by Maharashtra’s MSRTC diverting a large part of its fleet to cater to the Mumbai-Konkan festival rush.
With trains also running full, ticket prices on major routes such as Goa-Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore have risen sharply. This has added to the difficulties faced by those rushing to return as schools and colleges are scheduled to commence from Monday. Attempts to contact KTC chairman Ulhas Tuenkar for a response were unsuccessful till the time of going to press.
