Agreement to run interstate bus services in Telangana and Odisha remains a non-starter

It might be recalled that TGRTC and OSRTC signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on February 22 in 2023 to bus services to select destinations in their respective States

Kothagudem: An agreement which the public transport corporations of Telangana and Odisha arrived at to operate interstate bus services remained a non-starter, much to the inconvenience of the passengers.

It might be recalled that Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGRTC) and Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on February 22 in 2023 to bus services to select destinations in their respective States.

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TGRTC managing director VC Sajjanar and OSRTC managing director Deeptesh Kumar Patnaik signed the agreement. According to the agreement, TGRTC would run ten bus services to Odisha while OSRTC would run 13 services to Telangana.

It was decided to operate the bus services in the following routes: Hyderabad-Jaipur (two services), Khammam-Rayagada (2), Bhawanipatna-Vijayawada via Bhadrachalam (2) and Bhadrachalam-Jaipur (4) by TSRTC while OSRTC would operate the bus services in the following routes Navrangpura-Hyderabad (4), Jaipur-Hyderabad (2), Bhawanipatna-Vijayawada via Bhadrachalam (2), Rayagada-Karimnagar (2) and Jaipur-Bhadrachalam (3) buses.

The agreement was signed in view of huge passenger traffic in the routes, which were selected based on the demand. The TGRTC had decided to run buses covering an overall distance of 3,378 kilometres in Odisha while the OSRTC would run the services for 2, 896 kilometres.

However, even after one year passed by there was no progress in implementing the agreement as the Congress government put it on the backburner. Operating bus services in the above routes would benefit passengers in four States; Telangana, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

It might be noted that tribals and non-tribals in the border areas in the neighbouring States travel to Bhadrachalam on a regular basis to visit hospitals and to visit Bhadradri Temple. As the agreement was yet to come into effect the passengers were now forced to depend on private travels.

The government should take steps to launch interstate services as agreed in the MoU. Several bus services that were originating from Bhadrachalam have been cancelled, the corporation officials have to take immediate measures to restore those services, said a CPM leader MB Narsi Reddy.

Devotees from many States visit Bhadradri Temple, which was known as Dakshina Ayodhya. With the cancellation of bus services to BHEL, KPHB, Chennai, Srisailam and other destinations buses from Bhadrachalam, the passengers have been facing severe difficulties and were forced to depend on private travels paying heavy charges, he told Telangana Today.

Bus services were being operated from Manugur, Kothagudem, Sathupalli and other depots to Miyapur. But such a service from Bhadrachalam was cancelled. The number of bus services to Kunavaram and VR Puram in AP were reduced and they should be restored forthwith, he added.