Tirumala, August 15, 2013: The Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) resumed its bus services to the sacred hill abode of Lord Venkateswara much to the relief of the TTD management.

The bus services on the Tirumala ghat road remained paralysed since Monday midnight following the APSRTC employees unions joining the indefinite strike call given by the APNGOs demanding the reversal of the Centre’s decision on bifurcating the State.

Things took a dramatic turn with the intervention of Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy at whose instance the TTD’s Executive Officer M.G. Gopal and the district Collector Solomon Arokai Raj held marathon consultations with the agitating leaders that stretched on to the late hours of Tuesday night in which it was finally agreed to partially exempt the hill town from the strike.

It was decided to operate 60 buses daily from the Alipiri bus depot at Tirupati in the larger interests of the visiting pilgrims who reach the town from remote destinations while all other services from other depots in the town will remain suspended.

500 buses everyday

The RTC runs a fleet of over 500 buses operating 3,000 services everyday between Tirumala and Tirupati.

Prominent among others who took part in the consultations include the Tirupati Urban Superintendent of Police Rajasekhar Babu, Executive Director of the APSRTC Jayarao, the two JEOs of TTD K.S. Srinivasa Raju, P. Venkatarami Reddy and others.

Source: The Hindu, DT. August 15, 2013.