Parking loot at Secunderabad station

Secunderabad: Vehicles coming to pick up their relatives are being looted by the parking private contractors by imposing undue exorbitant rates.

While the fee at the parking lot is Rs 47 for two hours, those who enter the station from the Bhoiguda side to pick up and drop passengers are given a grace period of just 10 minutes to exit, failing which, they are required to pay Rs 100 if one stays for 15 minutes, Rs 200 for 30 minutes and Rs 500 for 30 minutes and above. What is more, in case one loses the ticket, one may have to cough up Rs 500.

"It is plain loot. How can one exit within 10 minutes? Even if one loads the luggage quickly, the car can move only if the ones in front proceed," P K Nambiar, a passenger who travelled in Sabari Express shared, "I asked my son to pick me up and as we stay in Musheerabad, it was convenient to exit from the Bhoiguda side. We just overshot the grace period by two minutes and had to pay Rs 100. This is ridiculous."

South Central Railway Mazdoor Union (SCRMU) general secretary, Ch Shankar Rao says, "The station has been given to private parties. The social component of the railways is being lost and it is the common man, the aam aadmi, who is going to suffer the most."

Umanagendramani, the vice-president of South Central Railway Employees Sangh, says, "Scooter stand, parking lot and now even the sale of platform tickets are being outsourced. At this rate, one may have to pay even to breathe at the railway station." Railway officials say that the fee is being collected to decongest the area. However, autos are not charged.