The rural services of the APSRTC with overcrowded buses has turned into a cause of concern at a time when the COVID-19 second wave is vigorous in Chittoor district. This is more felt on the routes under the Satyavedu depot in the eastern mandals.
Post lockdown, APSRTC buses kept operating on the rural routes with limited services keeping in view the thin occupancy rate. But, since the second wave surge, the rural services are overcrowded. The passengers attribute this to low frequency of services. The pandemic has also forced people in the rural areas to reach home early, leading to overcrowding of some services and leaving the other services with less occupancy.
The low frequency of rural service between Satyavedu and Tirupati via Nagalapuram and Puttur has led to overcrowding in the morning and evening hours. “Though the passengers have the option to board another bus in a very short gap, they prefer to board the first bus they come across to reach their destinations early,” Depot Manager (Satyavedu) P. Gangadhar said.
The official said conductors of the rural services had been strictly instructed to discourage standing passengers and footboard travel. “Whenever there is overcrowding, the conductors are asking the passengers to wait for the next bus,” he said.
Except for a couple of services, several routes in the rural areas have been witnessing poor occupancy. This is attributed to holidays for students from Classes 1 to 9, and closure or partial functioning of some of the units in the industrial belt in the eastern mandals.
Meanwhile, several youth from Satyavedu, Nagalapuram, Puttur and Nagari mandals keep traveling to Chennai and other border towns in Tamil Nadu for doing odd jobs and collecting goods for various business outlets. With cut in late night services along the rural routes, they find it difficult to reach their destinations, coupled with non-availability of share-autos at night.
