The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : RTC union to block private buses today

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Monday, Mar 05, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

RTC union to block private buses today

Special Correspondent

Members will squat in front of buses against their `illegal operation'

HYDERABAD: Members of the APSRTC National Mazdoor Union, the recognised employees' organisation, will squat in front of private buses in the city and all important towns across the State to protest their "unauthorised operation," on Monday.

About 5,000 RTC workers will also squat on the National Highway IX at L.B. Nagar Ring Road from 6 p.m. to midnight on Monday.

M. Nageswara Rao, president, and Syed Mehmood, general secretary, told a press conference here on Sunday that the Government was "blind to the illegal operation of private buses in the State." Most of these buses which obtained permits to run as contract carriages were being operated as stage carriages.

Loss of revenue

The leaders said this was eating into the revenue of APSRTC as well as the State exchequer. The recommendations of a high-level committee headed by the Chief Secretary on the issue were yet to see the light of the day.

They wanted the Government to launch an intensive drive to prevent illegal operation of vehicles, particularly buses, to save the corporation.

They recalled the committee's recommendation that no private bus should be allowed to park within a radius of three km of a bus station in the city and two km in towns.

They alleged that 546 private buses were being operated from Hyderabad to different destinations. While a large number of buses were plying between Hyderabad and Vijayawada, 56 vehicles were being run to Shirdi.

Passive stance

The leaders said the Government, which strictly implemented the helmet rule, was "remaining passive" to enforcing the law pertaining to contract carriages.

"We want the Government to take action against any operator who violates the rule, irrespective of their social and political status," they said.

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