Commuters in Old City suffer

Hyderabad: The transport system in the old city is in a bad shape. While the MIM legislators allege that a step-motherly treatment is being meted out to the old city, authorities say that narrow roads and heavy traffic are hindering the process of providing proper transport connectivity.

But the fact remains that there has been a steady decline in the number of buses that ply in old city areas. Even the buses operated in the old city are more than 15 years-old. As a result, people are forced to travel by auto-rickshaws paying Rs 40-50 even for shorter distances. The presence of a large number of autos also adds to the vehicular pollution in the area.

A large number of domestic tourists visit the old city to see the Charminar, Mecca Masjid, Chowmohalla Palace and Faluknama Palace.

But there is no A/C bus service to these areas. While it is a fact that big A/C buses cannot move in the narrow lanes and bylanes in the old city, the authorities could have operated mini buses but even that facility is not available at present.

According to official sources, there are 121 regular bus services being operated from Falaknuma depot. Similarly, there are 114 services from Midhani depot, 103 from Bandlaguda. But all these buses are old ones which add to the pollution levels. Sometime back, RTC had operated Metro Express buses but soon withdrew them because of the poor condition of the buses.

The TSRTC later took up the initiative of operating mini-buses citing the reason of narrow lanes. However, the officials told The Hans India that these mini buses were also taken off the road in some areas on the grounds that they were making losses.

The wear and tear of the mini buses is also high and it results in high maintenance cost. The passengers in old city also complain that the mini buses do not have grill separating the area for male and female passengers. RTC officials say that such a provision in mini buses is not possible.

Imran Rizvi, a resident of Talabkatta said, “Women particularly middle class ladies in old city areas are opting for studies and jobs and have to travel long distances but there are no separate buses for them from old city.”

He said RTC runs over 40 ladies special buses from various parts of the city to cater to the needs of women employees working in State Secretariat. In the absence of proper public transport, people are depending more on personal vehicles leading to traffic jams in old city, Mohd Yunus, a resident of Charminar area lamented.

The Transport Minister P Mahender Reddy said that about Rs 144 crore was proposed in the budget for purchasing new buses including mini buses. Soon measures would be taken to connect old city with other areas in the city.