Ludhiana MC to auction 37 city buses gathering dust for past 8 years at depot
The decision was taken during the meeting of board of directors of Ludhiana City Bus Services Limited held at the MC’s Zone-D office on Monday. Apart from MC, officials from police, transport department etc also participated in the meeting
With the failure of authorities to operationalise 37 city buses lying in dilapidated condition for around eight years, the municipal corporation (MC) has decided to e-auction the buses gathering dust at the depot on Tajpur road.
As per the information, the buses were initially purchased at a cost of around ₹17-crore, but the authorities are now expected to e-auction the buses as mere scrap.
The decision was taken during the meeting of board of directors of Ludhiana City Bus Services Limited held at the MC’s Zone-D office on Monday. Apart from MC, officials from police, transport department etc also participated in the meeting.
Earlier in July, MC commissioner Shena Aggarwal had formed a committee to check whether these buses could be operationalised. Apart from the civic body, officials of Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) and Regional Transport Authority (RTA) office were also part of the committee.
One of the MC officials, requesting anonymity, said the committee had submitted the report which suggested that it was not feasible to run buses now. “The civic body will have to spend crores in repairing the buses as many parts of their have been stolen or rusted, as the buses were put to a halt in 2014. Even if the buses are repaired, it will be difficult to run the big buses in the city due to congestion. The proposal to sell-off the buses was also sent to the local bodies department and the higher authorities had given a green signal,” the official said.
MC additional commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal confirmed that it had been decided to sell-off the buses through e-auction and the concerned staff had been directed to complete the formalities.
MC struggling to run city bus service to its full capacity
The MC has for long been struggling to run bus services in the city at full capacity, even as it is the only public transport facility available in the industrial hub of the state.
Tall claims had been made in the past to run the service at full capacity, which has also been long-pending demand of city residents.
Under the City Bus project launched in 2011, 120 buses were purchased. At present, only 83 buses have been handed over to the contractor, while 37 big buses are lying in dilapidated condition at the bus depot. Even of the 83 buses, the contractor has been running only around half the buses on city roads.