Dasara disappoints TSRTC officials in Khammam

Khammam: Dasara festival turned out to be a disappointment for the Telangana Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) as it expected a good income by operating more buses.

The Road Transport Corporation's Khammam region officials planned to operate 450 buses expecting to transport more than 1 lakh commuters from Hyderabad to different places in erstwhile Khammam district from October 15 to 27. But, against their expectations, as there was poor response from commuters, the RTC cancelled 150 buses out of the planned 450 and among 300 buses, the organisation has further cut down on some more buses.

Taking 2018's Dasara rush into account and income calculation, the RTC officials' plans seem to have been foiled this time as they have been able to transport 10,000 commuters till Saturday evening. During 2018 Dasara festival, the RTC operated 600 buses and transported more than 1 lakh commuters and earned an income of around Rs 2 crore.

This time due to poor response, the RTC officials are expecting only Rs 25 lakh of income. The RTC was already facing a loss of 10 paisa per km due to Covid-19. RTC Khammam region manager SVG Krishna Murthy said, "We planned 450 buses for the festival, taking inputs from 2018 festival records but response is not as per our expectations." However, it is our responsibility to transport the commuters to their destinations, he said.