Narketpally bus depot at the shrinking end

Narketpally/Nalgonda: The Narketpally bus depot which was established in 1932 and was State's second bus depot and the first in Nalgonda district, is nearing the end of its life. Established in 1932 during the Nizam's rule, the depot provided not only buses but also quarters for the convenience of the staff. Until 2012, it provided valuable services to people within a 20km radius of the depot in United Andhra Pradesh. However, the government's policies on the RTC has pushed Narketpally depot towards shutdown, and had been struggled for its existence.

To preserve its historical significance of the depot, the Telangana government has taken measures to continue the depot. However, the depot has shrunk to only 14 bus services from 67 (40 RTC and 27 hire services) last year, based on occupancy ratios. Currently, three RTC buses and 11 hire buses are operating from the depot, with 76 staff members, including conductors, drivers, mechanics, security, and ministerial staff.  It is noteworthy that the depot is profitable and ranked in the top 10 of all bus depots ( 95) in the State in terms of revenue growth, a challenge that began in December 2022. The depot earned a profit of Rs 7 lakhs in December, Rs 50,000 in January, Rs 6 lakhs in February, and Rs 3 lakhs until the third week of March, with 10 scheduled services.

The depot officials have proposed constructing a function hall in the place of the collapsed staff quarters built by the Nizams to increase revenue for the state RTC. Besides being the first depot in the erstwhile Nalgonda district, the depot has helped several villagers to travel to Mumbai and Surat for their business activities and to seek employment.  According to sources, the Narketpally-Bombay bus ran for 20 years, and people from Kattangur, Nalgonda, Choutuppal, and Valogonda mandals took advantage of it to earn a good income by carrying out activities such as milk production, weaving, and construction labor work.

Former Narketpally sarpanch, Duimetla Satiah, expressed concern over the shrinking status of the Narketpally depot and stated that several villagers in the surrounding areas are forced to travel in private transport after RTC withdrew services from the depot in many routes. He urged RTC officials to increase services in the interest of the people and requested the restart of the Narketpally-Mumbai service, which would benefit the RTC and the settlers in Mumbai, Surat, and surrounding mandals.  The highway outside Narketpally has also impacted the depot, as AP buses, Nalgonda, Suryapet, Kodad, and Miryalguda buses go via the bypass, affecting businesses in Narketpally and leading to the permanent shutdown of the highly profitable Narketpally bus stand canteen.