The eternally pathetic TSRTC fleet

Arguably, one of the most used modes of public transport, the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) buses have always been under the scanner. Be it rash driving or statistics in road accidents, the department has had its share of negative remarks from the people.

It seems like the ‘pathetic’ tag will not leave these vehicles, which do not have emergency safety kits or proper seats for passengers and move around with broken headlights. With the bifurcation between women and men seats there isn’t even proper room between the two for comfortable seating.

Speaking to City Life, Purushotham, Executive Director, TSRTC, Greater Hyderabad says, “We make sure that we train our drivers well. That includes when to use indicators and when not to. But yes, I agree that most of them don’t follow rules.”

“We should start implementing new rules for these rule breakers,” he says. “Every morning, there is a check. If anything is found broken, buses are fixed then and there only,” he asserts.

However, Shiva, a bus driver denies the statement. “This isn’t true. There are numerous buses moving with broken lights. Sure, there are regular checks every day and that includes functioning of breaks, fuel and cleanliness. No one is ready to fix broken lights immediately, and if we wish to get it done it has to be done from own pocket money,” he rues.

When asked about the rash driving Shiva says, “We have a fixed allotted time for every ride we do and that is 40 minutes. Roads are dug up around the city, there are traffic diversions because of Metro constructions; all this does not allow us to reach on time. So, in order to stick to the allotted time most of our drivers tend to overtake and increase speed limits.”

RTC Staff Workers Federation Secretary, VS Rao, adds, “Even if we bring in new buses the situation will not change. Fixing up the bad state of buses will never happen. And we have been fighting for years to increase the duration of the trips. But, our words are never heard by the authority.”
“Once they increase the duration of our ride, it is obvious that our drivers will stick to one style of driving,” he says.

“Our officials are always with ideas that are about cost controlling. They aren’t ready to spend for fixing the problem. We are tired of complaining about the broken lights and seats,” he rues.

When asked about the First Aid kit missing in most of the buses, Purushotham feels it is a waste of time to install the same. “Passengers take away anything that is kept in the box. We tried to keep the box with necessary things, but ended up refilling it every now and then because it was being robbed.”

By Bhagyashree Kottoori