An auto carrying as many as 18 students, who were returning after taking their SSC examinations, and a few others, turned turtle, injuring eight students near Maktha Kothagudem village of Atamkur (S) mandal on Wednesday. With few buses plying on many routes in the district, many of over 53,000 candidates appearing for the exam depend on auto-rickshaws designed to accommodate three passengers, but end up packing as many as 30. The incident is seen as routine in rural parts of the district, and with students writing the SSC examinations in as many as 253 centres, the lack of monitoring from transport authorities and police, and the RTC not plying dedicated buses are issues being raised.
