Transport Minister P. Mahender Reddy, on Sunday afternoon, flagged off a new deluxe, daily bus service of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) from Tandur, bound for Dantewada, in Chhattisgarh.
Speaking after the commencement of the the new service on an existing inter-State permit, he said the corporation would take a fresh look at such permits on which services were not being run and fulfil the gap.
With a pro-active government and support from Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, he said the day was not far when the TSRTC would be firmly on the road to profit, after meeting the accumulated losses.
Divisional Manager-Vikarabad, Somaraju Bhavani Prasad, under whose jurisdiction Vikarabad, Tandur and Parigi depots fall, said that the new service would leave everyday at 2 p.m. from Tandur and passing through Hyderabad, Khammam, Bhadrachalam and Sukma, reach Dantewada the next morning, travelling 662 km. In the return direction, a bus would leave Dantewada daily at 5.30 p.m., he said.
“Although unsure of the percentage of passengers who would travel all the way from Tandur to Dantewada, we are very sure of registering 80 per cent occupancy through the short distance, sector-wise travel approach. For example, between Khammam and Bhadrachalam or Bhadrachalam to Sukma and beyond, there is a lot of demand and we hope to cash in on that,” said Mr. Prasad, adding that the fare was fixed at ₹ 650 from Tandur to Dantewada.