Telangana, Andhra RTC meet fails to take off

Hyderabad: The impasse between the two states over operating interstate services between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana continues as no meeting between the officials of the Transport department of the two states took place on Tuesday. It may be recalled that Andhra Pradesh Transport Minister Perni Venkataramaiah said on Saturday that talks were in final stages and that the two states would enter into an agreement on Tuesday.

The TSRTC authorities said that they had no idea of any meeting on Tuesday as was claimed by the AP minister. When contacted, one of the EDs said that they had no information about the meeting but added that there may be one during this week.

The issue of entering into an agreement for operating inter-state buses between the two Telugu States has been pending since June. Officials from both the states have been holding meetings but without any outcome and the passengers continue to suffer as they are forced to depend on private operators who are charging heavy fare due to reduced occupancy as per the Covid-19 protocols. Many had even cancelled their visit to native places during Dasara.

The APSRTC had proposed to operate 250 buses each between Hyderabad and Vijayawada, the TSRTC officials have reportedly rejected the proposal stating that the buses would be operated only after having an agreement. The TSRTC officials want the buses to be operated on a parity basis with equal kilometres. The bone of contention here is APSRTC buses are operated in 71 routes of Telangana and the TSRTC is operating only in 28 routes in Andhra Pradesh.