Special buses come to the rescue of students

HYDERABAD: Sakala Janula Samme loomed large over the Group-I exams which were held on Sunday. With the streets being deserted with hardly any mode of public transport, groups of students were seen tensely waiting for some transport to take them to their exam centres on time. Jinoj and his four friends had to reach Sanathnagar from Abids. They started early from their homes and waited for nearly 40 minutes for either a bus or an auto. The special buses organised by the RTC for candidates came to their rescue. Having recently come to the city and not being aware of all the routes, they soon realized the bus they had boarded would not take them till the exam centre. It was 8.40 a.m and they were still stuck near the ESI hospital, the last point for the bus they boarded. They haggled with few auto drivers until finally one of them agreed to take them to Sanathnagar. “I was afraid we would not be able to make it on time,” said Jinoj.A few auto drivers who had decided to work despite the bandh ruled the roads. They chose where they would go and where they wouldn’t and quoted the price. Since it was the question of attending an exam, the students had no choice but to pay up the inflated rates. Gangadhar, an economics lecturer in a city college had to wait for a long time before he spotted the special bus in Mehdipatnam.“I’m so tensed. I just hope I can reach the exam centre on time,” he said. A few others had their own vehicles to commute and travelled without worry. By 8 a.m, the frequency of the special buses picked up and one could see frequent buses, easing out the tension of candidates. The buses were available after the exam was over by 1 p.m, to ensure nobody got stranded.Savitha (name changed), a government employee from Nellore had a rather long journey till Hyderabad. “Getting to the exam centre was the preliminary exam. I wanted to take the Simhapuri Express but it was cancelled. They said the Charminar Express would operate only till Vijayawada and hence I came by flight. It was expensive but I could afford it. But what about those who cannot?” she asks. She is however happy with the special bus service and found a place in a lodge near her exam centre in Punjagutta.