Hyderabad: Nightmare continues for commuters

The nightmare: The commuters including office goers and other working-class had to face hardships on Monday with not enough buses coming onto the roads in time as the strike entered 17th day. The number of buses decreased on Monday as the educational institution buses were not utilised by the Corporation. The Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) stations had heavy rush all day but this was not sufficient as the Metro was not connected to all corners of the city. The HMR authorities operated trains in six to seven minutes frequency and ran additional trips.

The TSRTC workers continued their strike as per the call given by the RTC JAC. The workers took up protests at bus depots across the State. The workers did not allow buses to move out of the stations at many places in the State. The management could operate 6,276 buses on Monday which include 1,888 hire buses and TIMs were issued for 3,404 buses.

Several political party leaders supported the dharna staged by the employees at Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS). The RTC JAC and political party leaders organised dharna in front of Mahatma Gandhi statue in the MGBS premises. The workers raised slogans of 'CM down down', 'Merge RTC with government', 'Bus Ka Pahiya Nahi Chalega' and took up 'Vanta Varpu' at the premises.

TJS chief M Kodandaram criticised the government for not calling the JAC leaders for talks. He said that it has been 17 days since the strike was started by RTC workers. It is the responsibility of the government to call workers for talks, said Kodandaram. The government's intension is to sell the assets of the Corporation hence it was not calling the workers for talks, he alleged. He stressed on the need to get more support to the strike.

Congress senior leader V Hanumanth Rao said that chief minister's mind should change. "KCR says I have not received the court orders. Where is High Court? It is in Hyderabad… his Advocate General is arguing in court. It is only to prolong the issue and make people suffer. If he continues like dictator, people will revolt against him," said Hanumanth Rao. TTDP leader L Ramana said that they were supporting the workers because their demands were genuine. RTC JAC Convenor E Ashwathama Reddy said that the agitation of TSRTC workers was beginning for the chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao's defeat. He alleged that the chief minister had no respect towards courts. He demanded the government to resolve the justifiable demands of the workers. "The CM is taking away the properties of the Corporation. The buses to villages have decreased after formation of Telangana," said Reddy. CPI leader Chada Venkat Reddy and others were also present.