Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

APSRTC loses Rs.1 crore on ‘Velugu' routes

VIJAYAWADA: ‘Palle Velugu' buses of the AP State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) shine no more in the rural sector as their sheen is taken off by private vehicle operators.

Increasing number of auto-rickshaws in routes like Machilipatnam, Gudivada, Avanigadda, Nuzvid and Thiruvuru have reduced the RTC services to second option for commuters progressively relying on private vehicles.

The RTC has incurred a loss of about Rs.1 crore in the last fiscal (2010-11) in the Vijayawada region. “We have incurred losses in the last financial year up to February and this is mainly due to the increasing number of auto-rickshaws hitting the roads in the rural sector,” said K.V.R.K. Prasad, Regional Manager of the APSRTC, Vijayawada region.

Perturbed by the loss-making situation persisting on these routes for some time, the authorities designed programmes like gift schemes, display of time-table boards in the bus stops, interaction with village sarpanches to educate and mobilise the masses towards the RTC services. Despite losses incurred by the public transport sector, the authorities see a silver lining in the declining trend of the loss-making graph. “Last year, the Corporation incurred a loss of Rs.3 crore. We could bring it down to Rs.1 crore this year (2010-11) and hope to make up for this loss during current financial year,” he said.

To check the illicit operations three vehicles manned by police personnel go around the district to prevent illicit operation of private vehicles and impose penalty on the erring drivers.

Meanwhile, six new Isuzu vehicles (of Volvo-equivalent) have been added to the RTC fleet in the region. The RTC is expecting an additional six A/C buses by the first week of June.

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