More buses rushed to Hyderabad to ferry ‘stranded’ Andhra's people

Govt warns of stern action against pvt buses fleecing passengers
People waiting for buses at Pandit Nehru Bus Station in Vijayawada on Sunday | EXPRESS
People waiting for buses at Pandit Nehru Bus Station in Vijayawada on Sunday | EXPRESS

VIJAYAWADA: With Andhra-bound passengers facing severe problem in reaching their destinations from Hyderabad due to the ongoing strike by Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) employees, the AP State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) has made  arrangements to run additional services to and from Hyderabad to bring the “stranded” passengers to their native places to celebrate Dasara festival. With even trains from Hyderabad to Vijayawada, Kakinada and Visakhapatnam running jam-packed, people from various places in Andhra Pradesh were finding it difficult to find transport facilities and are being exploited by private cabs and buses.

Simultaneously, the AP Road Transport Authority started action against private operators who are exploiting the situation. To handle the Dasara festive rush, the APSRTC has been operating around 150 special services from Vijayawada to Hyderabad as a majority of the students and employees visit their native places in Krishna, Guntur and twin Godavari districts to celebrate the festival on Tuesday.

“With the TSRTC employees intensifying their stir and not many buses operating, the passenger rush has been doubled in the APSRTC buses from Imlibun and Dilsukhnagar bus stations on Saturday night,’’ APSRTC vice-chairman and managing director MT Krishna Babu said. From Sunday, the APSRTC started running 110 special services to Hyderabad from Vijayawada. According to officials, the buses started from Vijayawada in the morning and reached Hyderabad. These buses started service from Hyderabad by Sunday night, giving the much-needed respite to the passengers. “We will continue to operate special services to Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru in the return journey from October 9-13,” Krishna Babu said. Meanwhile, for the second consecutive day on Sunday, the transport department officials continued their surprise checks across the State and registered cases against 179 buses for collecting exorbitant fares from passengers.

Transport Commissioner PSR Anjaneyulu said the majority of the private bus operators are operating services from Hyderabad to various destinations across the State by charging two times more than the RTC bus fare. “During the inspection, the Motor Vehicle Inspectors (MVIs) are verifying registration, fitness certificate and insurance policy. In case of a serious violation, instructions were given to MVIs to seize the private buses on the spot and ferry the passengers through RTC buses,’’ he said.

Anjaneyulu said there would not be any compromise on the safety of passengers travelling in private buses and raids will continue across the State till the end of this month to act tough against private bus operators ferrying passengers flouting the norms. Those buses which are being operated without paying taxes will be seized on the spot.

Meanwhile, Transport Minister Perni Venkataramaiah warned of stern action against private bus operators charging exorbitant fares.“We have asked officials to penalise bus operators between `50,000 and `1 lakh if they were found violating the norms,’’ he said, adding that a coordination meeting will be conducted with the RTA department after festive season to discuss the steps to be taken to prevent fleecing of private bus operators. The minister said an executive director from APSRTC has been monitoring the passenger rush at a control room in Hyderabad.

110 spl services from Hyderabad to V’wada
From Sunday, APSRTC started running 110 special services to Hyderabad from Vijayawada
APSRTC is also running
30 additional buses to and from Bengaluru and 10 from Chennai on Sunday and Monday
Cases registered against 179 private buses for collecting exorbitant fares
800 special buses operated from Hyderabad to various destinations in AP so far
Based on demand, additional buses will be operated
from October 9 to 13

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