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The Shivamogga division of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has revealed in an RTI response that an amount of Rs 3.94 crore was spent on bringing thousands of people to attend the recent inauguration of an airport by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The reply, dated April 3, said that the huge amount was spent on transporting people in 1,600 KSRTC buses from different parts of the district. The details were shared in response to a query under the Right to Information Act filed by a Twitter user named Akash R Patil on March 24. In his query, Akash had asked how many KSRTC buses were used to bring people for the inauguration of Shivamogga airport, who paid for the expenses and how much it cost.
The response from KSRTC said, “On Monday, February 27, 2023, 1600 buses were provided by the Corporation on casual contract to bring people from different taluks of Shivamogga district to Shivamogga city for the inauguration of Shivamogga airport. The bill of said vehicles is Rs 3,93,92,565 and was paid by the Executive Engineer of Shivamogga,” the response said.
Had filed an RTI application & received this answer today.
— Akash R Patil (@ImAkashPatil) April 6, 2023
3 crore 94 lakh has been spent on 1,600 KSRTC buses to bring people from different parts of the Shivamogga district for the inaugural function of Shivamogga Airport.
PS: There were many buses from other districts as well! pic.twitter.com/LCQglBBoXY
On February 27, PM Modi inaugurated the Shivamogga airport in Karnataka, which was constructed on 663 acres of land with an investment of Rs 449.22 crore. The airport, named in honor of renowned poet and author Kuvempu, is expected to act as a gateway to the state’s Malnad region. With a capacity to handle around 300 passengers per hour, the airport's Passenger Terminal Building can accommodate up to 7,200 passengers daily. On the same day, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai said that the Shivamogga airport would become an international airport within the next year or two.
