PANAJI: The much awaited globally used low-floor 42-seater buses, that were to be inducted into the Kadamba Transport Corporation (KTC)’s  fleet of buses, are likely to hit the road within the next fortnight as the state government has sanctioned ` 3.75 crore for the vehicles.

The buses were to be procured under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), but pending the funds from the Centre, the state has decided to release the funds till that happens.
The KTC chairman, Mr Deepak Dhavlikar said that the state government has sanctioned the amount and that the Corporation will take possession of the buses shortly and the buses should hit the road within the next couple of weeks.
The buses were to be delivered earlier this year, however, the failure of the state government to have a parking policy in place had come as a roadblock as the Centre did not release funds for the low-floor 42-seater buses under JNNURM.
The KTC made several efforts to get the funds from the Centre but to no avail with the Corporation finally placing a request before the state government to release the funds as it will persist with the Centre to release the funds under JNNURM, which then will be reimbursed to the state government.
A source in the KTC, on a condition of anonymity, informed that around ` 3 crore is pending as the second installment from the Union Ministry for Urban Development.
He said that the Corporation has already added some mini buses under the scheme, adding the Union Ministry for Urban Development has not released the money as the state government has to undertake reforms, which include having a parking policy of its own, besides, creating a special corpus fund and also to have an urban mass transit facility.
He said that the Corporation is pursuing with various government departments on carrying out reforms, however, there is a lack of coordination between the departments. 
Under the scheme, the Centre was to provide 80 per cent of the cost while the state has to provide for the remaining 20 per cent, he said adding the total cost of the 20 buses is around ` 3.8 crore.
It learnt that the Corporation had written to the Centre that Goa is too small a state to have an urban mass transit facility and hence the state government has already written to the Union Ministry of Urban Development to exempt the state from the transit facility, and to release the funds.
The source also stated that KTC officials recently held a meeting with the department of urban development to take stock of the situation. The source added that the department is looking into the matter and a final decision will be taken by the end of this month.
The 20 low-floor buses are fitted with LED destination boards, automatic ticketing machines, GPS-ready facility and other
modern facilities.
Meanwhile, Mr Dhavlikar said that the KTC is committed to improve the quality of services for the commuters and is in the process of revamping its services.
He said that the KTC has sent a proposal to the Centre to connect rural areas with the nearest city, town.
When asked about the allegations by private bus owners over harassment from KTC, he said these are baseless allegations.
The KTC chairman said that KTC are looking to connect several rural villages which are not connected by private bus owners hence there is no clash.
He further said that KTC are only looking to provide services to the passengers and has also requested the private bus owners to improve the quality of services.
“Passengers should be treated like God,” he added.