Much to the relief of passengers, the Transport Department, following the High Court order, will act against illegal operations of private bus services only at the originating and destination points.
Ever since the Mahabubnagar Volvo mishap, the transport authorities had been seizing private buses at various points, including border check-posts, causing gross inconvenience to passengers.
The authorities often made passengers disembark at remote places late in the night as part of seizure of buses. They were later told to board RTC buses to complete the journey. To escape the department’s dragnet, most operators were digressing from the usual routes, rescheduling timings and adopting other tactics, leaving passengers in the lurch.
For instance, private buses normally use the Narketpalli-Suryapet-Kodad to reach Vijayawada from Hyderabad. But, in the last few weeks, operators were diverting buses via Pochampally, Suryapet, Khammam to reach Vijayawada, avoiding main roads and being directed through far-flung villages.
On the Hyderabad-Shirdi route, too, buses were diverted either on the Hyderabad-Humnabad-Omerga- Naldurg- Osmanabad- Bhoom- Jamkhed- Ahmednagar and Shirdi or the Hyderabad-Humnabad-Omerga-Naldurg-Solapur-Timburni-Ahmednagar and Shirdi.
Incidentally, passengers had little or no clue on the changes in routes.
“I booked a ticket for Bangalore with departure time at 8.30 p.m. But, I got a message, informing that the bus was rescheduled to leave at 5.30 p.m,” said Midhun, a software employee.
