RTC staff, families take to streets; dharnas all over

Hyderabad: Despite claims of all-out efforts being made to restore normalcy in operating RTC buses by the government, the services continue to be badly hit as TSRTC workers along with family members took to the streets and held dharnas at all bus depots.

The police arrested several agitating workers and dispersed the employees. But the passengers complained of irregular services across the state.

Even in Hyderabad, not many buses were operating and there have been complaints of charging double the fare. Passengers also complained that no tickets were being issued.

In Kukatpally area, a private driver operating an RTC bus was found in an inebriated condition. The bus he was driving met with an accident and he was beaten up by the passers-by.

In Hyderabad, city bus services almost came to a grinding halt. People faced hardships to reach their destinations, mainly offices, in the morning shifts. They said even skeleton services are not seen on the roads before 9 am and no bus plies after 9 pm.

The bandh called by the RTC JAC in the erstwhile Khammam district was total and peaceful. In some areas, RTC workers forced the traders to shut their shops in Khammam town and other municipal areas.

The JAC called for district bandh in solidarity with the bereaved family of RTC driver A Srinivas Reddy, who committed suicide on Saturday night.

One woman conductor fainted at Komaram Bheem – Asifabad bus depot and two RTC workers received injuries when police tried to bundle them into vans and shift them to police stations. Tension prevailed for an hour at the depot.

Congress senior leader VH Hanumanth Rao was taken into preventive custody for joining the dharna in support of the RTC workers in Suryapet.

Heavy police force was deployed at all bus depots in the early hours anticipating that the RTC workers may resort to violence. As the police did not allow the striking employees to enter the depots, they staged dharnas outside the depots.

Majority of workers thronged the premises with their family members, including children, and staged sit-in for more than two hours.

An RTC conductor Sumalata from Khammam gave vent to her frustration saying, "We achieved Telangana with a strong hope that the life of future generations will be bright.

KCR shattered all our dreams and forced us to come on to the streets and beg for our rights."