Lukewarm response to TSRTC strike: Telangana Govt

Hyderabad: The strike by RTC Joint Action Committee is partial and failed to disrupt normal life, according to Telangana government. The number of vehicles deployed rose to 11,000 on Sunday from 9,000 on Saturday. The strike failed to impact transport requirements of passengers, said a senior official at TSRTC. The RTC management hopes that the number of employees would report to duty in a day or two.

“As per data available until 6 pm on Sunday, RTC management operated 11,000 vehicles from the twin cities to Telangana districts. Passengers bound to Godavarikhani, Karimnagar, Vemulawada, Sircilla, Nizamabad, Medak, Siddipet and Adilabad, didn’t face any inconvenience. We have deployed many buses to clear the festive rush. TSRTC is operating as many as 5,359 RTC buses comprising own fleet of 3,327 buses and 2,032 hire buses. Over 51 per cent of the total fleet has been deployed,” said Kiran, senior PR Manager, TSRTC, in a statement.

Further, over 6,000 private vehicles, school buses, and cabs have been deployed to meet the demand of the passengers. Hyderabad Metro and MMTS operated several services to ease out the situation in the twin cities.

Meanwhile, passengers raised concerns over the excess charges by private vehicle operators. “From Hyderabad to Nizamabad, I was forced to pay Rs 500. The bus driver didn’t even give me the ticket,” said Ramesh, an IT employee. Many passengers also complained that auto drivers were fleecing them to reach JBS and MGBS from their residence.