I might be accused of having beef with the Kadamba Transport Corporation (KTC) with this piece, and that may well be true. The last time it was Ironman 70.3 Goa 2024, with the bus drivers and conductors of KTC completely clueless as to the change in route or even how to drive their own buses.
This time it is the exposition of the sacred relics Saint Francis Xavier and the laxity of KTC and my bewilderment at the strange decisions the higher-ups at the government-run transport corporation take.
Maybe it’s just me, but KTC operations seemed to nosedive as the exposition began. Buses began running late, especially the ones going to Margao. On one occasion the bus arrived in Margao and did not even park in its allotted area. It stood ready to leave as a sea of people, who had been waiting for ages, poured into the bus.
But more than the tardiness, it was the appearance of ramshackle buses, relics dug up from the bus graveyard. Perhaps competing with the saint’s (St Francis Xavier) own relics, devoid the sanctity. And if I’d never seen patched up buses before, this was the time.
I can attest that for the first time in my life I saw buses with duct tape trying to hold bits together.
There’s this one bus in particular, which I seem to have had the misfortune of getting on often this last month, that has not been cleaned, to the extent that dirt, cobwebs and soot (?) are thickly layered on the ceiling of the bus.
Remember, this means the bus was in operation for the entirety of the Christmas festive season. Heaven have mercy on anyone with a severe dust allergy who decided to get into this bus.
Knowing well enough that tourists do travel by local buses, I cannot imagine what their experience of travelling in these derelict buses must be like.
On one hand you have these shiny new buses (that are steadily showing signs of wear, although not that old), and on the other there are these disturbingly patched up, dirty buses. The disparity is mindboggling.
We are clearly a State that does not care about the message we are sending out about how we treat our guests. It is gradually showing with the decline in tourism, especially with many foreign tourists opting for other countries.
For all the fanfare of numerous festivals and portraying Goa as the ultimate tourist destination, you are faced with the shocking reality of this shabby bus/buses.
I have several questions. Why is the maintenance of Kadamba buses so deplorable and pathetic? Why aren’t the ones in the worst state retired for good? This one’s been bothering me for ages – why doesn’t KTC use the AC buses in the afternoons when the scorching heat needs to be assuaged with some artificial cooling?
Planning for the 18th exposition of the sacred relics of St Francis Xavier started well ahead of time. Why weren't there enough decent buses to be used during this time? Just like the Ironman fiasco, there does not seem to have been effective planning or preparation.
The private buses are “special” in their own right. Squeeze in as many people as you can (not) and move the seats close enough so that anybody over 5 foot 5 inches will soon have arthritic knees. They certainly are unique, the private buses in Goa. I wouldn’t be surprised if we have tourists coming here just for the experience of Goa’s private buses (I jest).
But, KTC, we expect more of you as the state-run bus transport. Do better!