The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) on Wednesday resumed bus services on the outskirts of Hyderabad. After six months, city buses were seen on the roads on the outskirts of the Telangana capital. Buses were operated from the Rajender Nagar, Maheswaram, Ibrahimpatnam and Bandlaguda depots.

The state-owned body was operating 12 buses from each depot. The officials said the numbers would be gradually increased.

However, no decision has been taken on resuming bus services in the city limits. While bus services across the state resumed in May, the city services were not resumed in view of the high number of Covid-19 cases in the state capital.

With the COVID-19 situation in Hyderabad now under control, the authorities decided to resume services at least on the outskirts. TSRTC officials said they were ready to resume 100 per cent services in the city but were waiting for a final nod from the government.

Sources said the resumption of services on the outskirts may be the first phase and by September-end or early next month, the buses may return on roads in the core city areas.

The resumption of bus services is being viewed as key to bring total normalcy in the cities. Since bus services have already resumed in cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai, the Telangana government is also keen to restore services in Hyderabad.

In neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, city bus services were recently restored in Vijayawada.

With Hyderabad Metro also resuming its operations earlier this month, there have been demands from commuters that bus services also be restored.

The TSRTC buses had gone off roads across Telangana on March 22. The services, except city services in Hyderabad, were restored on May 19.

TSRTC operates over 3,000 buses on 1,400 routes in Hyderabad, including the outskirts. Before COVID-19, these buses used to make 43,000 trips, transporting over 30 lakh passengers every day.