Statehood protests paralyse transport in Telangana

The rail blockade by Telangana activists continued for the second day Sunday, while the strike by employees of state-owned Road Transport Corporation (RTC) buses entered the seventh day.

Railway stations in Hyderabad and nine other districts of the region wore a deserted look as railways cancelled all the trains. Protesters demanding separate statehood to Telangana returned to the tracks Sunday morning.

Protesters near almost all the railway stations continued staging the cook and dine protest on the tracks and were also playing games and participating in cultural programmes.

At some places like in Nalgonda, activists of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) spent the night, had bath and breakfast on the tracks.  Hyderabad and the rest of Telangana remained cut off from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions as both trains and buses did not ply.

Thousands of commuters remained stranded in cities like Vijayawada, Guntur, Visakhapatnam and Tirupati due to cancellation of all trains and buses. Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC), which is spearheading the movement, is reportedly planning to extend the rail blockade till Sep 27. JAC leaders say they have not yet taken a final decision.

The South Central Railway (SCR) cancelled over 72 express and 264 passenger trains in the region Saturday and Sunday. The railways have cancelled all 222 Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS) services or local trains in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad and 102 Diesel Hydraulic Multiple Unit (DHMU) trains in other parts of Telangana.

Over 500,000 auto rickshaws also remained off the roads. Over 10,000 RTC buses remained off the roads for the seventh day.

With no mode of transport available, people are having a harrowing time. The employees of IT companies in Cyberabad, the IT cluster in the state capital, also had a tough time in reaching the offices.

'People's strike' by state-owned Singareni Collieries paralyzed coal production for the 13th day Sunday. It threw the generation and supply of electricity out of gear and affected business and industry.