GUNTUR: The final nail in the coffin of APSRTC Ponnur bus depot will be put on Tuesday with 297 employees completing the formality of giving their `consent' for management's proposal to close it down.

The Repalle depot has been making higher quantum of loss when compared to Ponnuru and similar losses are noticed in Vinukonda depot also and some trade unions are of the opinion that these two units will be closed in the next two to three months. Guntur Regional Manager G. Jaya Rao, however, has told The Hindu that there is no such proposal to close down these two depots.

Repalle and Vinukonda might be making losses, but they have strategic advantage of location and with minor administrative changes they could be brought back to profits within a short period, he opines.

Staff shifting

Andhra Pradesh State Transport Corporation Guntur region's officials read out to employees on Friday the management's wish to close down the bus depot with 50 bus services at Ponnur as it had turned unviable. The exercise has been on for the past four months and employees have been given time till Tuesday to convey their consent for shifting them to depots of their choice.

The employees, supported by Ponnur Telugu Desam Party MLA Dhulipalla Narendra Kumar, picketed the depot for a few hours on Saturday seeking continuation of the depot. The MLA suggested to the management that each employee would forego a day's salary for two months and work without taking weekly off to turn the operations profitable. The management has projected a saving of Rs.2 lakh per day following closure.

The RTC management, however, does not see merit in that as it feels it will only delay the inevitable by another couple of months. "We are going with an open mind on Tuesday to get the feedback, but no tenable proposal seems to be coming up making the final closure decision a foregone conclusion," observes Mr. Rao.

Ponnur depot currently operates 47 services of its own, three of hired buses, but in the present circumstances operational profitability is possible only when there are 70 to 80 schedules from the depot.

This possibility is ruled out from Ponnur as it is sandwiched between Bapatla and Guntur with impact from Repalle and Tenali depot services affecting its profitability, he says.

While 15 schedules will be shifted to Repalle, others to Bapatla and Guntur with Tenali getting a few of them.

A majority of employees will be accommodated in Guntur-I and II depots, while 80 drivers and conductors settled in and around have been asked to choose the depot of their convenience as shifting from Ponnur is inevitable.

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