Dry fuel tanks leave NWKRTC buses stranded

Malingaraya Pujar CH NEWS The ambitious Shakti scheme, which offers free bus travel to women across Karnataka, has hit a severe roadblock. Major bus depots under the North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation in Gadag have run out of diesel for five days, pushing local public transit into total chaos. The crisis stems from unpaid bills. Depots received their last fuel delivery on October 3. Since then, no supply has arrived from the HPCL oil facility in Raipur near Hubballi. Corporation insiders reveal that the department owes crores of rupees to fuel suppliers. Because the state government delayed reimbursing the transport corporation for the Shakti scheme, the agency ran out of funds to pay the oil companies, halting tanker dispatches entirely. Daily transit operations require at least 4,500 liters of diesel to maintain scheduled trips. With reserve fuel fully drained, depot managers have started quietly reducing bus runs. This fuel scarcity directly threatens daily life in Gadag, where seventy percent of residents live in rural zones. Hundreds of students, farmers, traders, and daily-wage workers rely completely on government buses to travel between remote villages and towns. Without active public transport, pupils risk missing classes, and commuters face extortionate fares from private operators. Officials downplayed the crisis, claiming it was just a minor technical issue that would be solved soon without shutting down services. However, ground realities paint a far grimmer picture as buses sit idle on dusty depot floors. Offering free transit means nothing if state authorities fail to secure the fuel needed to keep wheels rolling. Unless the government clears its pending debts immediately and restores regular oil supplies, public frustration will soon boil over into widespread street protests. ‘’Due to the unscientific administration and propaganda-loving 'Shakti' scheme of the Congress government in the state, the entire transport department has reached a state of begging. This diesel shortage is proof that the government's coffers are completely empty. The concerned transport minister and senior officials should immediately pay attention to the diesel problem on a war footing. Otherwise, the rural people will be organized and violent protests will be held in front of the transport agency office’’ Shankar Balikayi, JDS president of Shirahatti ‘’There is no shortage of diesel. There is no problem for the public in bus traffic at present. Enough diesel has been brought for three days. Information about the availability and shortage of diesel has already been conveyed through a meeting. Also, steps have been taken to run more buses on the occasion of the Dasara festival’’ H.S. Keerthana, Managing Director, (NWKRTC)