The State-owned Kadamba Transport Corporation (KTC) has introduced luxury electric and air-conditioned buses on some routes for the comfort of commuters. But overall, the KTC bus service leaves a lot to be desired. On one hand, we have luxury buses, and on the other hand, we have leaking buses. Indeed, one issue that commuters face during the monsoon season is rainwater seeping into the buses.
On Thursday, passengers of a KTC bus reportedly complained of rainwater entering the vehicle through a missing window pane, prompting an NGO to threaten formal action over the deteriorating condition of public transport vehicles. The makeshift tin covering failed to prevent rainwater from seeping into the bus, causing considerable inconvenience to commuters during their journey. Commuters are being forced to travel in a bus that lacks basic safety and comfort standards. Incidentally, this is not the first time complaints have been raised about rainwater entering KTCL buses. The latest incident adds to mounting concerns over the poor maintenance of KTC buses, especially on high-traffic routes like the Margao“Panaji corridor, which serves hundreds of daily passengers.
Passengers are often left soaked and uncomfortable throughout the journey. Commuters may be forced to wear their raincoats while travelling in the bus or may have to open their umbrellas to shield themselves from rainwater entering the bus. This may be the case even with private buses. Rainwater leaking into the driver’s cabin can obstruct visibility, make the steering wheel slippery, or even get into the driver’s eyes, potentially causing a distraction and increasing the risk of an accident. A post that has gone viral on social media shows a damaged window of a school bus being covered by an aluminium sheet in order to protect against the rains, raising serious concerns for the children.
