Private buses off the road, trains jam-packed

HYDERABAD: Moving out of Hyderabad for Dasara vacation has become next to impossible.The only mode of transport available to those who want to go to hometowns in coastal districts is the train but getting into one is simply impossible as all general bogies are packed like sardines.Though the railway is running special trains till Oct 6, the services are woefully inadequate as can be read from the anxiety-writ faces of passengers waiting at the Secunderabad station.The problem has become worse after the private bus operators cancelled all their services following attacks on buses in Nalgonda district by T activists on Monday.There was tension on Tuesday also till evening with the activists blocking the traffic for more than six hours as part of the rasta roko.The police, with great effort, removed the demonstrators and allowed the vehicular traffic but the private operators were convinced that the police would not be able to provide adequate protection to them.As the private operators cancelled their buses, those who booked tickets in advance had to rush to booking offices for cancellation of tickets.Long queues were seen at the agents’ offices.The RTC has, however, made a brave effort and sent close to 80 buses to destinations in Andhra to ease the passenger rush.Police escorts were provided to the convoys of 10 buses each _ one escort heading the convoy, one in between and one at the tail.The police escort lasted till the buses crossed Nalgonda district into Krishna district on the National Highway No. 9.The buses which arrived at the MGBS here from Vijayawada, Rajahmundry, Kurnool, Guntur and Kadapa were sent as special buses to Andhra destinations.RTC officials identified some trouble spots on the route and sought deployment of police forces there. The RTC did not, however, operate any service to any town or city in the Telangana region, said BV Prasad, assistant traffic manager of Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station.``In fact, the APSRTC wanted to run 1,458 buses for this Dasara but what can we do? The strike has thrown a spanner in our works,” he said in exasperation.The drivers were told not to stop the buses if agitators hurled stones or tried to attack but to drive on which would be the only way to escape from trouble, he said.The MGBS wore a deserted look with few passengers around as very few buses were operating.A Murthy, a resident of Mumbai, was waiting along with his wife since morning to catch a bus to Vijayawada.He said he was not aware of the RTC employees’ strike. “I flew down to Hyderabad this morning and reached the MGBS. Here there are no buses.Had I known about the strike, I would have flown to Vijayawada from the airport itself,’’ he said.In contrast, railway stations looked like battlefields. The brawny could get inside, pushing others aside, and occupy the seats in the unreserved coaches while the weak, the young and the old watched helplessly.The railways too are running a number of special trains but they are not enough as the numbers of passengers wanting to get at least a toehold on the trains kept growing and growing.According to railway sources, 16 special trains to destinations within the state and 14 long-distance trains will be run.