Passengers bound for various destinations in the midst of the peak festive period faced hardships as public transport services were hit in the erstwhile composite Khammam district on the first day of the indefinite strike called by the JAC of the TSRTC employees' unions on Saturday.
Almost all the political parties, barring the ruling TRS, extended their support to the strike by the TSRTC-JAC in pursuit of its charter of demands, mainly the merger of the public transport entity with the government.
Mild tension prevailed at the bus depot in Khammam on Saturday morning when the local leaders of the CPI (M), CPI and the CPI (ML-ND) besides various other mass organisations were detained by the police on charges of gathering at the bus depot defying the prohibitory orders. CPI (M) district secretary N Nageswara Rao was among those who were whisked away by the police near the bus depot. They were let off some time later. The JAC leaders maintained that almost all the TSRTC buses of the total fleet of over 600 buses remained confined to the bus depots in Khammam region due to the strike.
But the TSRTC authorities asserted that more than 230 buses including about 183 hired buses were operated with temporary crew on all main routes amid tight security arrangements in Khammam region.
The TSRTC and the Transport department officials hired more than 125 temporary drivers holding valid driving licences with the requisite driving experience. The authorities have also made arrangements to hire the vehicles of private educational institutions to deploy them if required.
Regional Transport Officer, Khammam, Krishna Reddy and the TSRTC Regional Manager Krishnamurthy camped at the bus depot and monitored the drive to recruit eligible private drivers and their deployment for duties.
Languishing in the bus stand waiting for a hired bus just a day ahead of Saddula Bathukamma is not only an unpleasant experience but also a safety concern for many commuters, deplored Narasimha Rao, a private employee of Bank Colony in the town.
I had arrived at the bus stand at 5.30 am to proceed to Warangal at least by 9 am to attend to an important work. But I have dropped my plan due to the strike, he deplored.
The government should end the impasse by amicably resolving the issues of striking employees to restore the public transport services in view of Dasara, the major festival slated for October 8, he suggested.
Reviews situation
Collector R V Karnan on Saturday visited the bus station in the town and reviewed the alternative arrangements made by the TSRTC authorities to operate buses. He issued instructions to the officials concerned to effectively implement the contingency plan to avoid inconvenience to the passengers bound for different destinations. Later, he visited the bus stand in Sattupalli town and interacted with the passengers.
