Renigunta airport cleared

The Centre’s decision to develop Renigunta airport at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore will boost religious tourism and develop Rayalaseema region.

Thousands of devotees from the United States, Britain and other parts of the world visit Tirupati every year for the darshan of Lord Venkateswara.

At present, they are put to hardship because of the lack of connectivity and have to catch connecting flights from Chennai, Mumbai or Hyderabad to reach Tirupati. The frequency of flights will increase once the airport is modernised and the runway is extended to 11,000 feet from 7,500 feet. The airport will also be expanded to accommodate at least 700 passengers at once. Night landing facility is already present.

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31 killed in train fire

In one of the worst fire disasters in railway history, 31 passengers were charred to death and dozens of others were injured when a blaze broke out in Kakinada-bound Gautami Express in the early hours of Friday.

Only two bodies have been identified so far. The rest were reduced to ashes and will be identified using DNA finger-printing techniques.

Forensic experts and railway officials could estimate the death toll only by counting the skulls. Most of the victims reportedly belonged to East and West Godavari districts.

The mishap occurred at around 1.30 am soon after the train had crossed the K.Samudram station on the Warangal-Khammam section, about 150 km from Hyderabad.

Fire broke out in the 3-tier sleeper coach S-10, apparently because of a short circuit, and spread to four other bogies within minutes.

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Travails of travelling: Not a private affair

More than 500 private buses operate from the city every day without a proper bus stand or parking facility.

The transport department, which provides permits to vehicles, is not bothered about providing facilities for private bus operators to park their vehicles.

The ‘profit motive’ of private bus operators and lack of coordination between government departments are compounding the problem.

Thousands of passengers travelling in private buses are forced to wait by the roadside at Kukatpally, Ameerpet, Lakdikapul, Kothapet and other parts of the city.

“We have no other go except to depend on private buses since APSRTC operates buses only from Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station,” said Mr G. Raghunandan, a passenger. “The operators and government should do something to help poor passengers.”

Even women children and old people are forced to wait on the roads. They have neither waiting rooms nor bathrooms.

“Old people and children are forced to run through busy roads to get into buses since the vehicles are not allowed to idle on the roads,” said Ms R.Kalyani, another passenger. “Travel in private buses has become a nightmare.”

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