HYDERABAD: The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) had recently decided to have two major change-over points along the arterial roads in the city for the apparent ‘convenience’ of the citizens. The decision, however, has now become less than convenient, causing endless traffic snarls even during off-peak hours.
The situation is the worst near Rail Nilayam in Secunderabad and opposite Rythu Bazar at Mehdipatnam, the two new major change-over points. A number of RTC buses could be seen occupying almost half of the road here, especially from 1 pm to 3 pm, waiting for the next shift of drivers to arrive. These buses have choked the traffic on these critical roads, making people lose out on precious time.
When Express visited these two changeover points, an obscenely large number of buses were seen parked beside the road, waiting for the second shift employees. The conductors of the first shift conductors are busy handing over the cash collected to the higher officials. After the handover, some proceed to change their uniform, while a few others settle down on the footpath to have lunch.
“These parked buses have been creating huge congestion at the Sangeet Junction. This happens everyday,” laments M Surender Reddy, a commuter. “There is sufficient space at the RTC depots and they can utilise this space for changeover. Why are they creating trouble for us by parking vehicles on the road? They often occupy up to 70 per cent of the space,” he says. He goes on to wonder if the policemen in charge would keep quiet if he parked his vehicle for hours together on the road like this. “I would have been given a challan instead.”
When contacted, Gopalpuram Traffic Inspector A Srinivas admitted that they have been receiving many complaints regarding the RTC bus changeover points. “We are planning to conduct a meeting with the controller of the RTC department and get them to shift the changeover points,” Srinivas said