RTC launches fitness drive

Vijayawada: After the death of three persons in a ghastly accident on Budameru Bridge in Vijayawada on Friday due to failure of RTC Metro bus breaks, the APSRTC Vijayawada region began testing the condition of metro buses in the city.

On the instructions of the higher officials, the staff concerned began verification of the condition of metro buses. They noticed that nearly 20 buses are unfit for driving.

The Central government sanctioned metro buses to Vijayawada under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) for plying in the city and suburbs. But the RTC is plying these services up to Vissanna Peta which is more than 100 km from the city. The metro buses are not able to cope up with load of plying long distances. During the festival seasons, the RTC operates buses to Hyderabad to cash in on the rush.

Most metro bus drivers are alleging that the condition of buses is very bad without sufficient spare parts. The RTC drivers are struggling to drive buses on the narrow roads of the city. After bifurcation of the state, traffic increased manifold in the city. But the roads are remains the same. During the Krishna Pushkaralu some roads in the Old City, Vidyadharapuram and some other areas in Two Town widened.

A senior driver at Governorpet depot said sufficient spare parts are not available for metro buses. He said though they lodge complaint about the poor condition of buses there will be no response from the higher officials. Most metro buses don’t have hand brake which is very useful to stop the bus during emergency.

Another driver on condition of anonymity alleged that some officers adopt biased attitude in allotting the buses to the drivers. He said some drivers get very good buses every time whereas some others get buses which are in bad condition. He said there is a mechanism on allotment of buses. Another bus driver stated that the duty hours increased by two hours due to vehicular traffic. “Our duty is eight hours but we are working more than 10 hours due to increasing traffic and in the city.”

The drivers are expressing concern that they became victims due to the negligence of the middle-level management or the higher officials who ignore their demands or problems. More than 90 per cent diesel buses plying in the city were earlier used as long-distance buses by RTC. These outdated buses are redesigned for usage in the city.

After the death of three persons, including a woman and child, the RTC officials began inspection of the condition of buses in the depots and asking the staff to lodge complaints. Now, the drivers feel it is only an eye wash. On the other hand, common people, too, are losing confidence in RTC buses due to poor maintenance and reckless driving drivers. During 2015-16 more than 40 people lost their lives in 42 road accidents caused by RTC in Vijayawada region. In the first nine months of 2017, 27 people died in 24 road accidents in Vijayawada.

Reckless driving, using cell phone while driving, poor condition of buses, violation of traffic rules, ignoring the traffic signals, trying to overtake other vehicles are some of the prime reasons for the accidents caused by RTC. The officials are saying that the drivers should change their attitude and follow the rules.