Mismanaged DTC buses bring misery to passengers

Mismanagement seems to be taking its toll on the commuters in the city with only 6,000 DTC buses being made available instead of 11,000 as was earlier demanded by the administration. 

To add to the misery, around 1,400 buses are in irreparable conditions which are still plying on 

the road putting lives of thousands of commuters at risk. And to top it all, as many as 450 Delhi 

Transport Corporation (DTC) buses break down every day. 

There are 5,216 buses run by DTC in which 1,275 are air-conditioner buses; 2,506 are low floor non-AC buses and 1,435 buses are the ones which are in a pitiable condition. 

‘Around 1,400 standard buses are beyond repair but still they are operating on the road,’ said DTC’s technical officer.

DTC has floated tenders twice, once in 2012 and another in 2013, to buy 1,800 new buses but only Tata Motors Company had applied for both and due to high rates quoted by the company, the tenders were closed.

Left with no option, the DTC officials were forced to run these buses putting the commuters’ lives at risk. ‘We have no option but to run these buses,’ said the official adding that after the new government comes to power things might change for the better. 

More than 46 lakh people use public transport, especially buses, every day in Delhi.