JOIN USAndhra Pradesh State Road and Transport Corporation (APSRTC) has incurred a loss of over Rs 200 crore since the agitation for a united Andhra Pradesh began. However, it has evolved a clandestine plan to save themselves from impending doom.
In their plan, buses which were otherwise assigned to reach destinations in the Seemandhra region, will ferry passengers only till the borders of Telangana such that passengers can disembark and engage three wheelers or other forms private transport to reach destinations in Seemandhra.
“Generally 1,300 buses operate between Hyderabad and 13 districts in Seemandhra on any single day. Now due to the strike in that region we are able to operate less than 50 buses fearing attack by the agitators. So far 200 buses were damaged in the Seemandhra agitation,” Vinod Kumar, a Ranga Reddy region APSRTC officer, said.
Buses starting from different stations are to run till the Pullur bridge on the Mahbubnagar-Kurnool border to reach Kurnool and then Bangalore. Similarly, Vijayapuri south to reach Macharla, Ongole and Palnadu regions; Khammam, Madhira, Sattupalli and Kodad to reach Vijayawada. The buses are scheduled only during night time so that the passengers reach their destinations without any trouble.
However, many of the passengers who wish to travel by state-owned buses are not aware of these “border line” services.
“The railway has failed to accommodate for additional rush as a result of the ongoing bus strike. With no private vehicles daring to operate services to Vijayawada, Guntur, Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Kurnool, Bangalore and Chennai this special arrangement will provide some relief. But no one knows from where and when these secret services start,” Kalluri Ramana a frequent traveler to Vijayawada said.
Meanwhile, APSRTC Vice-Chairman and Managing Director A K Khan appealed to his employees in the Seemandhra region to return to work. The employees, however, remain unrelenting.