VIJAYAWADA: All the efforts of the APSRTC officials to resume bus services to Telangana to cater to the large number of people coming to their native villages in Andhra Pradesh for Dasara festival are not yielding any positive result.
Every year, running services from Hyderabad fetches the APSRTC a good revenue and the officials wanted to tap the same. APSRTC MD and vice-chairman MT Krishna Babu told TNIE that for the past two days, they were in constant touch with their Telangana counterparts for getting their consent to resume interstate bus services, but in vain.
Krishna Babu said the APSRTC has given a route map to operate 1.60 lakh km per day to their counterparts in Telangana for resumption of bus services between both the States. However, TSRTC officials made it clear that they can go ahead with the proposal only after getting a nod from the Telangana government.
Krishna Babu said October is a crucial month for the RTC to earn revenue by operating special bus services during the festival season. "Since the beginning of the week, we are in talks with TSRTC officials for resumption of bus services at least for the return journey of the passengers between October 24 to 31 after completion of Dasara festivities. However, there was no response from our counterparts in Telangana," he said.
"In a series of talks held with TSRTC officials, we have agreed to reduce 50,000 km of operations in Telangana and asked them to increase their operations by 50,000 km in Andhra Pradesh. But, we are yet to get a response. Besides, TSRTC officials said that they will increase the number of routes between Hyderabad and Vijayawada, ignoring other routes," he said, adding that the move would definitely benefit private bus operators. The vice-chairman maintained that they were ready to operate special services at any point of time if they get the required approvals from Telangana.
State's proposal
Krishna Babu said that the APSRTC has given a route map to operate 1.60 lakh km per day to their counterparts in Telangana for resumption of bus services between both the States. However, TSRTC officials made it clear that they can go ahead with the proposal only after getting a nod from the Telangana government.
APSRTC's Plan B
With uncertainty prevailing, the APSRTC has started operating 2,028 special buses to various parts of the State and Bengaluru from October 15. As a plan B, APSRTC officials are all set to improve the bus services within the State to earn revenue during the Dasara festival season. A proposal in this regard was forwarded to Krishna Babu, official sources said.