Frequent breakdown of DTC buses becomes a cause of worry

Soaring temperatures in the national Capital have mounted the hassles for passengers of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses. There has been a spurt in the breakdown rates of the buses.

DTC buses, including low floor buses, are prone to breakdowns. According to senior officials of the state Transport department, about 350 to 400 incidents of breakdown of DTC buses are being reported daily.

Not only have passengers been inconvenienced, but the problem has led to major traffic jams and shortage of buses plying on the roads.

Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gehlot had sought details over breakdown of DTC buses from the Corporation's CMD, but is yet to get a reply.

The frequent breakdown of low floor buses has raised questions over their maintenance, keeping in mind that fact that DTC spends over Rs 64 lakh a day for maintenance of its buses.

"The maintenance charge for low floor buses was Rs 2.50 per kilometre, which has increased to Rs 6-7 per km. About 92 per cent of DTC buses run on the roads of Delhi per day," said a senior DTC official.

The maintenance contracts with bus manufacturing companies seem to not bear much fruit, as many buses are not in plying conditions.

According to officials, the amount of maintenance goes to the depot managers of DTC terminals but the results are not satisfactory.

Some DTC bus drivers have alleged that managers at their bus depots are "hand in glove" with managers of the companies that are assigned the annual maintenance contracts, which has led to deterioration of the buses.

Currently, the DTC has a fleet of 5,481, out of which 2,506 are low floor buses and 1,275 are air conditioned. About 1,600 buses are run by Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Ltd (DIMTS), while the rest are old model DTC buses.

Gehlot instructed the Corporation to immediately solve the problem of breakdowns of DTC buses and said his department will ensure that the Delhi government will run a campaign to make people aware about congestion and pollution free Delhi.

In the last five years, DTC has not added a single bus to its fleet. The low floor buses were inducted to its fleet during the 2010 Commonwealth Games in the capital, in view of phasing out the Blue Line buses.