Hubballi: District minister R V Deshpande launched the air-conditioned multi-axle bus service between Hubballi Airport and the railway station, at the airport here on Saturday.Deshpande said the airport has become one of the busy airports in Karnataka with 14 scheduled flights per day. “There was great demand from the people, elected representatives and officials to start a bus service from the airport to the city and today we have fulfilled the demand. Depending on response and demand, NWKRTC will start plying buses to different locations. New buses will be introduced on these routes,” he added.Replying to a question on the inconvenience caused to commuters after the introduction of BRTS, Deshpande said that during the ongoing trial run, officials were looking at all the issues related to BRTS and solving them on a priority basis. “Once BRTS is implemented fully, NWKRTC buses plying between Hubballi and Dharwad will be withdrawn and so shall private buses, which will reduce traffic congestion on the mixed lane,” he said.MLA Prasad Abayya, DC Deepa Cholan, NWKRTC MD Rajendra Cholan, airport director S K Ahilya and others were present.‘DKS’ personal statement’Deshpande stated that whatever water resources minister D K Shivakumar stated on the Lingayat issue was his personal opinion and had nothing to do with the unanimous decision taken in the cabinet during the previous government. “Even legislative council chairman Basavaraj Horatti, who was one of the leaders in the forefront of the separate religion status movement, has said that there is no point in discussing the issue which is pending before the union government,” Deshpande said.Commenting on Sabarimala issue, Deshpande said no matter what, atrocities against women are unacceptable in the society. “No religion should keep women out from worshiping. Law and order should be maintained at the shrine. While hearing the review petition, the Supreme Court should take into consideration the religious sentiments of the people and take a proper decision while respecting the tradition which is in practice for thousands of years,” he said.One AC bus for nowFor the time being, NWKRTC will ply one AC bus and one city midi bus to the airport. The AC bus will commute between the railway station and airport while the city midi will ply between Hubballi CBT and the airport. The fare for the AC bus is Rs 25, while in the midi bus, it is Rs 15. The AC buses will make 10 trips and midi buses 24 trips a day. The bus service has been scheduled as per the arrival and departure of flights.

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