The Nilgiris district administration has announced that mini bus operators can apply for permits to ply buses along eight more routes in the Nilgiris, now bringing the total number of new mini bus routes to 16.The administration said that already permission had been granted for buses to ply along eight routes on February 17, 2025. Due to increased demand, the below mentioned routes have to be allowed for private mini buses to operate - Padachery and Cherambadi, Dharmagiri and Alloor, Gudalur to third division, Gudalur and Pazhamvayal, Kappachi and Kattabettu, Kottacombai to Kaakagundu, Kil Kotagiri and Kulangarai and Ooty ATC and Thunderi. Applications for permits to ply on these routes can be submitted to the Regional Transport Office before March 15, it was stated.However, S. Manogaran, president of the Coonoor Consumer Protection Association, said that allowing mini buses to operate in the Nilgiris will prove counter-productive towards ensuring connectivity, especially for residents living in remote villages. Mr. Manogaran, who has written a letter to the Tamil Nadu Transport Minister, said that the Nilgiris was the first district in Tamil Nadu to nationalise bus services, resulting only in the operation of government buses till 2000, when permission was granted for 101 mini buses to operate in the district “to ensure connectivity for residents living in the district’s interior villages,” he said.He added that the objective of the exercise was not fulfilled as mini buses operated only in the areas surrounding the towns of Ooty, Coonoor, Kotagiri and Gudalur. “Since permits were issued for mini buses, government buses that previously operated on these routes were discontinued. As a result, the people of interior hill villages continue to face great difficulties.The public has been continuously demanding the operation of buses to these areas. However, the Transport Department has been refusing their requests, citing the issuance of mini-bus permits as the reason,” he added.Mr. Manogaran said that the announcement of 16 new bus routes will continue to cause hardship to the people and urged for the new permits to be revoked, and for government buses to be reinstated on routes from which they were discontinued previously.Published - February 25, 2025 06:00 pm IST