Hubballi: The commercial city of Hubballi is often called ‘Chota Mumbai’. It has had close business connections with Mumbai for centuries. As many as 70 private buses and six trains carry thousands of passengers between Hubballi and Mumbai daily.
The irony is that neither NWKRTC nor KKRTC are running a single reserved bus between the cities. Hubballi passengers must rely on only one KSRTC bus that runs from Mangaluru to Mumbai, which does not enter Hubballi city and the crew insists passengers board at Hubballi-Dharwad bypass. Mahendra Singhi, a social activist, told TOI that he has been urging NWKRTC officials to launch some luxury buses since the induction of Pallakki buses, for a year.
"Officials often say that they will do it next week but not launch. We are thinking of meeting the transport minister soon to seek Hubballi and Mumbai buses," he added. Mayur Patil, a frequent traveller between Hubballi and Mumbai, suspected that a nexus of officials and private bus operators must be the reason to halt buses to Mumbai.
“If we book the Mangaluru-Mumbai, which is the only bus available for online booking, the crew insists we come to Karwar Road toll gate on the outskirts of the city. Who is responsible if we are looted by miscreants there? Following the situation, I have stopped booking RTC buses to travel to Mumbai,” he shared. Uttam Sathiya, spokesperson of Indian Travellers Association, Hubballi, recalled that there used to be Rajahamsa buses to and from Mumbai 1-2 .