The festival season appears to be going sour and disrupting the travel plans of many from the city planning to visit their hometowns in Andhra and Rayalaseema, given the ongoing general strike.
With RTC buses going off the roads and private bus operators hesitant to run services, apprehending attacks from Telangana protagonists, people literally struggling to find a proper mode of transport to reach their native places.
As the express and special trains operated by the South Central Railway are fully packed, many travellers have no other option but to shelve their plans or use personal transport. Some travelling to Vijayawada and its surroundings prefer to travel in private buses operated with police escort till Kodad in Nalgonda district.
Escort
The district police are stopping vehicles proceeding towards Vijayawada at Suryapet in Nalgonda. After assessing the number of commuters in buses, the police are providing escort for batches of ten buses till they cross Kodad. The decision to provide security to buses was taken after pro-Telangana supporters hurled stones at some private buses at Suryapet a few days ago.
“It's really a Herculean task to get reserved train tickets to Visakhapatnam. As we could not succeed, we have decided to first reach Vijayawada using any available transport and from there proceed to Visakhapatnam,” says a traveller K. Krishnamurthy from Kukatpally.
Security angle
Private operators say ticket bookings were full but they were unable to continue the services owing to security reasons.
At least 800 buses ply from Hyderabad to Andhra and Rayalaseema regions every day and only 30 per cent vehicles are operated now.
The Andhra Pradesh Private Bus Owners Association president, H. Subashchandra Bose, feels the need for an early settlement of the issue of statehood. “We are not against any region. We are just rendering service to people,” he says.
Despite operating special trains, the demand for rail tickets has been increasing daily due to non-availability of buses.
“We have received directions from higher-ups to arrange additional coaches to meet the increasing demand,” a senior railway official added.
