The Hindu : Reader's Mail

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 09, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Reader's Mail

Divert buses

Sir,__On behalf of bus commuters residing in Venkatapuram, MES colony and West Venkatapuram, I have the following suggestion for implementation at the earliest:

There are buses with almost all the 26 English alphabets on their numbers in service from Old Alwal to various destinations via Lothkunta.

A few services starting from Old Alwal may be diverted at Satya Petrol Pump towards Bhatia Bakery, Vaishnovi Matha Temple, Darga, Lakshmi Kala Mandir to take the regular route from Lothkunta. The same may be followed on the return trips too. By implementing this service, the commuters of Venkatapuram, MES colony & Vaishnavi Matha temple will be benefited as there are very few buses plying on route no. 21.

After introducing of 21/107, the running time for each trip takes nearly two and half hours and due to this public who are residing in the above areas are put to a lot of problems. I hope the concerned authorities will take suitable action immediately.

L.G. Rajappa,

Lothkunta

* * *

Lay approach roads

Sir,_Approach roads at the MMTS railway stations are in bad shape due to which the APSRTC is not able to run buses to the nearby colonies. Good approach roads should be laid at the stations. The Hitech city railway is one station where there is need for such a road. It is more than six months since the first phase of the MMTS was introduced. I request the authorities to do the needful on a priority basis so that the traffic on the MMTS can be increased.

Further, the railways and APSRTC can introduce common monthly season tickets for facilitating passengers to travel in the new system economically since the MMTS is aimed at decongesting twin cities.

G. Hanumantha Rao,

Sanathnagar

* * *

Cable vagaries

Sir,__Why was the `C' channel taken off suddenly from the TV channels to accommodate new ones? This happened to Jaya Tamil channel on December 27, but it was restored later. However, `Kairali' channel in Malayalam is yet to be brought back. When cities like Bangalore can show over 80 channels, why are the local cablewallahas hesitant to provide more language channels? Here even the DD channels are not shown. One cannot get even CCN, while the history channel and cartoon channel are all in Hindi. What can a child can enjoy when the English dialogue is dubbed into Hindi? Besides, many channels are clogged providing nebulous visuals, thanks to lack of proper infrastructure like cables of high quality. With the cable operators charging inflated rates, varying from place to place, why can't the Centre go in for a uniform policy for the entire country?

Jaya Chandran,

AC Guards

* * *

Maintain hygiene

Sir,__I have been taking milk sachets provided by the AP Dairy Development Corporation - Vijayawada - for the past few years. Of late we find insects, white worms, legs of cockroaches and other material in the milk after the packet is opened, which is quite distressing. I appeal to the management of the APDDC to take little more care to ensure proper sanitation in their premises so that the corporation does not become another place providing unhygienic milk leading to outbreak of epidemics. Is it a deliberate attempt by the PSU to drive the customers to private suppliers? It is high time the administration wakes up before it is driven to liquidation.

D. Hanumantha Rao,

Hyderabad

* * *

Ensure proper meters

Sir,__You show me at least one auto out of several thousands in the entire twin cities displaying the correct fare, calculated on the basis of the distance travelled and we are ready to pay a minimum of Rs.10/- per first 2 kilometres and Rs.5/- per every extra kilometre thereon. We are not bothered about the bargaining at Rs.2/- and Rs.4.50. The Transport Commissioner is requested to gauge the pulse of the harassed, hapless commuters and provide much required relief by ensuring installation of correct meters and not by giving negligible marginal reliefs.

I am sure at present all the victimised people are paying at least 25 to 40% extra on the present metres over the correct fare. Diagnosis is on the faulty metres and not so much on the fares. Travelling in an auto here is simultaneous with a feeling of being continuously cheated, helplessly though.

K. Seshagiri Row,

Mehdipatnam

* * *

Clarification

Sir,__This is with reference to Shahbaz Hussain's letter under the heading `APTDC makes a killing' which appeared in The Hindu dated 19 January 2004, regarding APTDC overcharging a party for hosting an event on the Bhageerathi boat on 11 January 2004. We would like to clear his apprehensions raised in the letter.

Buffet dinners are charged on `per-head' basis. The calculations are made based on number of plates used by the guests during dinner. Minimum guarantee is taken from the person organizing the party and final bill is made as per the number of the persons based on the plates used. Hence it is wrong to say that order was placed for only 100 and the food was left over for 20-30, since the billing is done on the basis of the number of plates used. Bottled soft drink and mineral water is sold as per MRP mentioned. However, in case of parties organized where service is done in an A/C restaurant, charges are higher than the MRP.

High quality imported glasses have been procured for service. In fact the cost charges for breakage are less than what they really should be. The APTDC is trying to upgrade its quality of service to give better customer satisfaction. The pricing of the food in APTDC restaurants is most competitive.

Divisional Manager, APTDC Ltd

Hyderabad Division

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