Visakhapatnam: The APSRTC authorities are waiting for the new buses from the Union Government, under JNNURM scheme. They may receive around 50 coaches in the first phase, in the next few days.
Presently, the corporation is running the bu-ses which have travelled lakhs of km and have become worthless.
But the financial condition of the company does not permit them to purchase the new buses. So the only option by the authorities is the Union government’s assistance, by providing new coaches, in the part of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.
They are expecting 105 new busses, and in the first phase, end December, they will receive 50 coaches.
Apart from this they have sent proposal to establish new depots at Kurmannapalem, Sim-hagiri in Vizag town and Rajam, in Srikakulam districts, to meet the demand from the public.
The authorities have identified some routes that were dominated by the private vehicles like jeeps, tempos, auto rickshaws and grabbing the business from the RTC.
So the RTC is gearing up to restrict the private vehicles and to increase its income by running services in those routes.
They have planned to construct a special depot and bus station at Rushikonda to run special buses for the conveyance of the software professionals as the most of the IT companies are located nearby Rushi Konda area. They sent the proposals to the Government to allot Rs.50 crores to acquire the infrastructure.
Along with this they sent another proposal to the State Government to allot lands for future projects in various areas like Chodavaram and Bobbili.
The Vizianagaram Zonal authorities are expecting that all the proposals will be accepted after bifurcation of the corporation. Though the Andhra Pradesh State is bifurcated, the corporation is not yet divided.
The executive director of Vizianagaram zone, A Rama Krishna, said “If the Government accept our proposals, we can give better services to the public. The new buses and new depots will help us to attract the passengers and we will gain good revenue also.”
