DAVANAGERE/CHITRADURGA: Interstate bus services between Karnataka and Maharashtra remained suspended for the fourth consecutive day on Tuesday as protests continued over the ongoing language dispute in the border district of Belagavi.
KSRTC Davanagere Divisional Controller Siddeshwara Hebbal told TNIE that Karnataka state transport buses to Maharashtra via Belagavi had been halted due to the "volatile situation."
The Davanagere division, which operates around four buses daily, has suspended three services, while one route to Sholapur via Vijayapura remains operational.
"As per the directions of the Deputy Commissioner of Belagavi, we have stopped buses to Kolhapur, the textile and power-loom industrial town of Ichalkaranji, and Vishalgad, as they must cross the Belagavi border. However, the lone service to Sholapur is operational as it crosses into Maharashtra through Vijayapura district," he said.
"To minimise inconvenience for passengers, we are operating buses only up to the state border. From there, commuters are boarding Maharashtra state buses to continue their journey," he added.
KSRTC Chitradurga Depot Manager Siddesh said they had not suspended any services to Maharashtra as their buses were routed through Vijayapura. "Our buses to Tuljapur and Pandharpur are operational, whereas the services to Pune and Karad have been stopped due to the trouble in Belagavi district," he said.
He added that services on these routes would resume once clearance was received from the Belagavi Deputy Commissioner.
The ongoing protests stem from a language-related dispute in Belagavi on Friday, when a bus conductor, identified as Mahadevappa Mallappa Hukkeri (51), was allegedly assaulted for not speaking Marathi.
"In Chitradurga, Kannada flags were placed on Maharashtra RTC buses, while in Maharashtra, our buses were blackened," Reddy said, highlighting the recent language-related tensions in the border regions of the two states. "Such actions must not be tolerated, and those responsible should be removed."
