Hired buses fleeces commuters, Bus Passes not valid

Hyderabad: Even as the government warned the conductors not to charge extra and also to accept bus passes, the hire buses owners fleeced the passengers by charging exorbitantly and some of the buses had boards like 'pass not accepted' 'No passes'.

The TSRTC strike entered the sixth day on Thursday with workers took up rallies and protest programs in the districts and also met Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan. The RTC JAC leaders said that the two drivers died on Thursday aftershock of dismissal by the government.

Taking advantage of the strike by RTC staff, the private bus operators especially the hire bus owners fleeced the passengers by charging exorbitantly. The hire bus owners pasted a board showing 'Pass not accepted' and 'No pass' depriving the pass holders of the journey even after a warning issued by the government. A hire bus operating in route number 300, Uppal- Mehdipatnam displayed aboard 'No Pass'. The passengers had to shell out money to the conductor in hire bus in Mehdipatnam area. The passengers criticised the government for giving free hand to the private buses during the strike.

There were reports of rash driving by the inexperienced drivers of the buses resulting in accidents at various places in the city. A police vehicle and another car were damaged after an RTC bus driven by temporary driver hit those vehicles in Medchal district on Thursday. The bus belonged to Kamareddy depot was going towards Kamareddy. Similarly, a driver of a hire bus of Yadagirigutta dashed a car at Chadarghat. The police had to intervene to stop both the RTC and car driver from fighting.

Meanwhile, the government used the services of Singareni workers in the RTC depots. Some of the Singareni workers were deputed to the Mancherial depot. The Singareni management asked four employees in Srirampur including A Rajamallu (electrician), A Rajkumar (general Mazdoor), B Anil Kumar and P Vinod (both motor mechanics). The employees have been asked to report to Mancherial depot manager immediately. The Khammam district collector RV Karnan issued orders to utilise the drivers of irrigation, roads and buildings, cooperative, labour departments in TSRTC.

The TSRTC JAC-1 leaders approached Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and sought her intervention in the issue. The JAC-1 leader K Hanumanthu urged Governor to issue orders to settle the grievances of RTC workers and to stop the irregular actions of government and management in the interest of travelling public and protect TSRTC employees and its properties.

Two drivers including D Komaraiah of Chengicherla depot and Khaleel Miya of HCU depot died of heart attack on Thursday.

Komaraiah is said to have been working for 20 years in the Chengicherla depot. The RTC JAC leaders said that Komaraiah died after heart stroke during the protest rally from Chengicherla to Uppal depot. The other RTC employees shifted Komaraiah into nearby private hospital but the doctors declared him brought dead.

In another incident, Khaleel Miya of HCU depot also died on Thursday. The JAC leaders said that the driver was under depression after the government's decision to dismiss the workers involved in strike. The JAC said that the government should be held responsible for the deaths of the two workers.