BENGALURU: Overwhelmed by a gruelling schedule and challenging traffic conditions in the city, over-stressed BMTC drivers taking the wheel presents a dangerous scenario.BMTC runs 6,630 buses, which travel 11.57 lakh km, making over 70,000 trips per day. BMTC employs 34,253 people, a majority of whom are drivers and conductors. They work in shifts, with drivers covering 100km a day. Driving buses in a city like Bengaluru, which has over 70 lakh vehicles on the road, coupled with ongoing infrastructure work and congested roads, is a difficult task, drivers say.
Mahesh (name changed) who takes the Shivajinagar-Ullal route drives a 22.5km stretch on one side. BMTC gives him one hour to complete the trip, but he struggles to complete it within even one hour 30 minutes. “Two-wheelers and autos come in our path or overtake the bus. If something happens, people blame us and not the smaller vehicles. I start my day at 2 pm and finish at 10 pm, driving 108 km in eight hours, which is very stressful,’’ he said, adding that they cannot even take a toilet break sometimes.
Another driver who is deployed on the Shivajinagar-JJ Nagar route is told to cover the distance in 35 minutes, but he takes an hour. He covers close to 90km every day. “I have been driving for 22 years, and Bengaluru traffic has worsened,” he said. It’s not just traffic, but also air and sound pollution that affect their health. “If something happens when we drive, like the glass breaks or a passenger damages seat covers, our salary is deducted,” said another driver.
BMTC Managing Director N V Prasad said that the driver who is said to have collapsed while driving a bus on Tuesday has been with the Corporation for eight years, and did not have any previous accident history. The bus he was driving has covered 4.5 lakh km and it was in good condition. He was travelling at a speed of 40 km per hour. “We are verifying other aspects,’’ he said.