PANAJI: The director of the Department of Transport (DoT), Mr Arun Dessai, on Tuesday said that more then 80 per cent of the private buses are overcrowded at the bus terminus, contrary to the claims by the All Goa Bus Owners Association (AGBOA), that the buses are suffering losses as the public refuse to enter buses once the seats are occupied.

Mr Dessai said that the department has observed that the buses get overcrowded at the bus terminus itself, leaving no room for en-route passengers, which results in the buses getting overcrowded way
beyond capacity.
He said that the bus owners association had claimed that they are suffering losses as the public refuse to enter buses once the seats are occupied. He said that the department is observing the movement of public transport on various routes, to determine if more buses are required on these routes, to ease the overloading.
He said that the department has taken the first steps towards zero tolerance to over crowding of buses, by launching a state-wide awareness drive. The drive has been launched at Panaji. He said that the department is not penalising the offenders, but only keeping a record of the statistics, along with the signature of the drivers and conductors of the buses violating the laws. He said that the drive will be launched in Margao and Mapusa in the next couple of days before deciding on future course of action.
Meanwhile, the chairman of Kadamba Transport Corporation, Mr Deepak Dhavlikar, on Tuesday said that the KTC will extend support to the transport department’s drive to zero tolerance to over-crowding. He said that the KTC buses get over-crowded only during peak hours, and that the KTC will issue a notification for additional buses on these routes.
Mr Dhavlikar said, “The laws have to be followed and if the KTC buses are getting over crowded then we have to cooperate with the department. We will look into the various routes and
act accordingly.”