KFDC to launch special bus service for fisherwomen

KFDC to launch special bus service for fisherwomen

Mangalore Today News News Network

Mangalore, May 16: The Karnataka Fisheries Development Corporation (KFDC) will launch “Matsyavahini,” a bus meant exclusively for fisherwomen in coastal DK, Udupi, and Uttara Kannada to transport baskets of fish comfortably to the markets and also travel to the fishing ports to fetch fresh fish. 

Ramachandra Baikampady, the chairman of KFDC, told reporters on Saturday that fisherwomen who depend on rickshaws and local buses to transport fish to the markets can now use these special buses, which have seating arrangements on one side and facilities to place the baskets on the other. Usually fisherwomen catch the first bus to the market and then walk to the wharf. The newly designed bus will take them directly to the wharf at nominal fares, said Baikampady. 

Two buses will ply along the routes of Karwar, Tadadi, Honnavar, Gangolli Ankola, Bhatkal,  and Mangalre. Three buses will ply along Malpe routes, since the area has more fisherwomen.

Specific routes will be chalked out for each bus, covering all major villages. In DK district, the bus will run from Ullal to the wharf and again from Sasihithlu to the wharf. Each bus will take two trips, one in the early morning and one in the afternoon.

He said that the chief minister might inaugurate the service during the second week of June; however, the service will commence only in August because the fishing season comes to an end in June. 

The KFDC hopes that this bus service will be of benefit to the local fisherwomen who find it difficult to find a local bus willing enough to permit them to transport their fish baskets to the market.