Mangaluru: KSRTC’s special Dasara tours from Mangaluru recorded their highest demand in five years on Sunday, with 29 buses operating on various temple routes in a single day.A senior official from the corporation’s Mangaluru division told TOI that the number of buses on package tours rose from 18 in previous days to 29 on Sunday. Kollur, Sigandur and Madikeri were among the routes with the highest demand.Almost all buses operated at full occupancy, with only one having around 20 vacant seats. Of the 29 buses operated on Sunday, two were from Udupi and the remaining 27 from Mangaluru, carrying around 1,400 passengers, the official said.The Mangaluru division has been operating the special package tours for the fifth year. Introduced for the Dasara period from Oct 11 to 20, the services cover the Navadurga temples in and around Mangaluru, Talacauvery-Bhagamandala, Kollur, Sigandur, Sringeri and Madikeri. The tours are planned as day trips, with passengers travelling in the morning and returning by evening.From Udupi, one bus operated on a local package tour and another to Kollur.The official said demand was particularly high for the Kollur, Sigandur and Madikeri routes. The Mangaluru city temple tour, covering prominent temples including Maroli Suryanarayana, Bolar Sri Mariyamma, Mangaladevi, Polali Sri Rajarajeshwari, Kateel Sri Durgaparameshwari and others, did not see comparable demand. The division operates two buses daily on the city tour.The division expects the number of buses operating on the package tours to decline to around 14 or 15 a day from Monday.The services operate on advance bookings, with passengers able to reserve seats online, the official added.The package tours use KSRTC Sarige buses and Ashwamedha services, the official said. The corporation has been operating the tours as a seasonal service during Dasara, allowing passengers to visit multiple religious destinations in a single day.
