RTC takes a low blow from Laila

Laila has cast a shadow on the cash reigsters of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC). It has not only forced it to withdraw 900 services across the state but also threw a spanner in its attempts to make extra bucks by operating additional buses on Thursday since several marriages were scheduled.With tanks and rivulets overflowing, RTC was forced to cancel several of its rural services, officials said.Prakasam district was particularly badly affected by the heavy rains.Bathini Ravindra, regional manager of APSRTC, told Express that the transport utility suspended 420 bus services out of 630 in the district as more than 16 interior roads were badly damaged. Volvo bus services between Chirala-Chennai were also damaged temporarily.``We instructed the respective depot officials to cancel bus services to cities like Chennai and Hyderabad. We are also refunding ticket fares to passengers who have already reserved tickets to travel to those destinations. Due to heavy rain, the loss to RTC is estimated at Rs 40 lakh in just Prakasam district,’’ he said.A few RTC division officials plan to increase the number of bus services on Thursday as a number of marriages are scheduled to be held in Krishna, Guntur, West and East Godavari districts.A Koteswara Rao, regional manager of RTC Vijayawada, said they had planned to increase services from Vijayawada to other cities on Thursday but the havoc created by Laila forced them to withdraw regular services too.``We suspended as many as 284 bus services temporarily out of our 1,530 services.We also planned to operate more buses as a numbers of marriages have scheduled to be held today in neighboring towns but the cyclone dampened our plans,’’ he added.In Guntur, as many as 65 bus services were suspended which ply to rural localities with roads damaged partially.K V R K Prasad, regional Manager of RTC, Guntur said they suspended bus services from Guntur to Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ongole, Nellore, Kavali due to the rains.Meanwhile, the East Godavari and West Godavari regional managers of RTC told Express that trasportaion in their district was affected badly due to heavy rain. They, however, did not suspend bus services as hundreds of marriages are taking place today.

By Mouli Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com