Hyderabad: Sankranti has been less cheerful for the regular RTC commuters from the city as they have been subject to a lot of inconveniences because of ‘shortage’ of vehicles.
The problem has arisen due to the corporation’s move to divert several buses to outstation routes in order to cater to the holiday rush. Thousands of city-based families have been travelling to their native places, especially in Andhra Pradesh, on RTC buses.
TGSRTC is operating 6,432 special buses, which includes a sizeable number of vehicles diverted from the 2,800 buses that operate in Greater Hyderabad Zone.
The resultant cut in vehicles and frequency is forcing everyday passengers from the city to wait longer for buses. Incidentally, the occupancy rate has been low. Monday saw fewer buses on the city roads.
Raghavendra, a private employee, pointed out, “I had to wait for more than an hour to get a bus from Attapur to Secunderabad. This is a problem we face every Sankranti. Those like me, who depend on city buses, have to suffer.”
Sandhya Rani, a therapist, said, “I and my colleagues who completed our work at 4 pm had to wait till 5.30 pm as there were no buses at lower tank bund. The frequency has been considerably less for the last two days.”
Marketing executive Ravikanth said, “I need to travel to many places in a day. The frequency was very less on Monday. Perhaps many have made their own transport arrangements as the buses I got into had very few passengers. It was almost like an empty bus.”
