Six low-floor buses gather dust
9 Feb 2013 6:48 AM IST
Red tapism and official apathy has led to a loss to public exchequer of over Rs two crore, as six ill-fated DTC low-floor buses lie gathering dust at Delhi Transport Corporation’s IP Depot behind the DTC headquarters.
The Green Star bus manufactured by the Tata Motors were inducted by the DTC in November 2005, when these buses were introduced on city roads for the first time.
Meanwhile, DTC has seen 12 CMDs, who must have seen these buses gathering dust but none have bothered to enquire about them and get them on road.
These buses were introduced on route number 620 between Shivaji Stadium and Hauz Khas. Given the novelty, they had become the cynosure of all the passengers and passersby.
However, they started getting grounded one after another as no maintenance contract had been entered into with the manufacturing company.
DTC itself doesn’t have the expertise to maintain and repair these buses.
The manufacturing company says that since there was no maintenance contract at the time of purchase, they were not in a position to offer this service.
The responsibility of maintaining and repairing the new lot of AC and non-AC low-floor buses lies with the bus manufacturers – Ashok Leyland and Tata Motors. However, Tata Motors has disowned these buses belonging to first lot for maintenance.
‘We approached the officials of TATA Motors urging them to take over the responsibility of the maintenance of the old buses and repairs but same has been turned down,’ said a DTC official.
At the time of purchase, the cost of each bus was Rs 32 lakh and five CNG-propelled buses were inducted in DTC’S fleet in November-2005, whereas the sixth bus was introduced six months later on 30 April 2006.
However, after plying for merely a few thousand kilometers, these buses were grounded due to technical snags.
The Green Star bus manufactured by the Tata Motors were inducted by the DTC in November 2005, when these buses were introduced on city roads for the first time.
Meanwhile, DTC has seen 12 CMDs, who must have seen these buses gathering dust but none have bothered to enquire about them and get them on road.
These buses were introduced on route number 620 between Shivaji Stadium and Hauz Khas. Given the novelty, they had become the cynosure of all the passengers and passersby.
However, they started getting grounded one after another as no maintenance contract had been entered into with the manufacturing company.
DTC itself doesn’t have the expertise to maintain and repair these buses.
The manufacturing company says that since there was no maintenance contract at the time of purchase, they were not in a position to offer this service.
The responsibility of maintaining and repairing the new lot of AC and non-AC low-floor buses lies with the bus manufacturers – Ashok Leyland and Tata Motors. However, Tata Motors has disowned these buses belonging to first lot for maintenance.
‘We approached the officials of TATA Motors urging them to take over the responsibility of the maintenance of the old buses and repairs but same has been turned down,’ said a DTC official.
At the time of purchase, the cost of each bus was Rs 32 lakh and five CNG-propelled buses were inducted in DTC’S fleet in November-2005, whereas the sixth bus was introduced six months later on 30 April 2006.
However, after plying for merely a few thousand kilometers, these buses were grounded due to technical snags.
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