Hyderabad: Private bus operators have hiked ticket prices for the three-day long weekend beginning Saturday and ending with Ganesh Chaturthi on Monday. The TSRTC too has proposed to operate special buses, tickets of which would cost 50 per cent more. Though demand for flight tickets is also increasing, staff of various airlines said tickets were available to most destinations such as Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi for the weekend. Citizens complained that the normal Volvo tickets from Hyderabad to Bengaluru, which is Rs 1,000, has been hiked to Rs 2,000.
A private bus operator at Lakdi-ka-Pul told DC the fare for Bengaluru on Saturday night was Rs 2,200. “For tickets for September 1, the price is Rs 1,040 per seat. From Friday night up to Sunday night it is Rs 2,040,” he said. Transport department officials said though they book cases against private bus operators, they cannot regulate pricing. “As such, we cannot ask them to bring down the price, as contract carriage has to be group booking of an entire bus. But, we keep booking cases for violation of the contract carriage norm, the penalty is up to Rs 5,000,” said joint transport commissioner T. Raghunath.
Pandals ask officials for more vehicles
There will be a 10 per cent hike in the rental for trailers and other vehicles that carry Ganesha idols for immersion this year. The Telangana Transport department had arranged nearly 4,900 vehicles last year. This year Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samithi members said the requirement for vehicles may go up and the list would be given to Road Transport Authority (RTA) officials in a couple of days.
Every year the Transport department arranges for the vehicles, and the rent along with daily allowance for the driver and cleaner in addition to fuel cost are paid by the respective pandal organisers. Joint transport commissioner T. Raghunath said a meeting with Ganesh Utsav Samithi members led by its president Mr Bhagvantha Rao held on Tuesday and the Utsav Samithi members agreed to a 10 per cent hike in the rentals of vehicles.
