Despite the Delhi transport minister stressing on the need for proper maintenance of the fleet of buses run by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), number of breakdowns in the corporation’s fleet of new buses has been increasing by the day. These low -floor buses were inducted in the fleet during the 2010 Commonwealth Games in the capital. The aim was to stop the use of the old Blue Line buses in a phased manner.
According to DTC officials, between 360 to 400 cases of breakdowns are reported every day, with the average going up in the months of May-June. The contract for the maintenance of the buses has been given to bus-manufacturing companies Tata Motors and Ashok Leyand, but these companies have failed to keep the buses in running condition. Presently, the DTC has a fleet of 5,481 buses, of which 2,506 are low-floor buses, 1,275 are airconditioned low-floor buses and the remaining 1,600 are the standard buses.
The frequent breakdowns are despite the fact that DTC is paying heavy maintenance charges to both Tata Motors and Ashok Leyand. The corporation pays both manufacturers maintenance fee at the rate of Rs 4.10 per km for the first 75,000 km or one year, Rs 5 per km for 1.5 lakh km or two years and Rs 7.10 per km for 2.1 lakh km or three years for the airconditioned buses.
According to the maintenance agreement, for non-airconditioned buses, the annual maintenance fees is Rs 3.20 per km, Rs 4.60 per km and Rs 6.50 per km respectively. The contract is effective for a total of three years and was negotiated by the DTC after the low-floor buses started frequently breaking down, soon after they were bought, said a DTC officer.
Transport minister Ramakant Goswami has always expressed concern at the rising number of breakdowns in DTC buses To deal with the frequent breakdowns, 14 mobile facilities have been deputed for prompt servicing.
Recently, the Delhi Traffic police had asked the corporation to properly maintain its buses as hundreds of them breakdown daily on roads causing traffic snarls.